Sarkozy's Olympic attendance triggers outrage[fr][de] 

"Keep Sarkozy out of Beijing is the message from the European Parliament today. The regime in Beijing is arbitrary, brutal and paranoid and uses torture as a terror weapon," said European Parliament Vice President Edward McMillan-Scott (UK, EPP-ED), speaking on 9 July after Sarkozy announced he would participate to the ceremony "on behalf of the European Union".

France holds the EU Presidency until the end of the year and Sarkozy said his decision has the backing of all other EU heads of state and government, despite the fact that several EU leaders, including Germany's Angela Merkel and the UK's Gordon Brown, have announced they will not themselves be attending the ceremony (EurActiv 26/03/08).

Greens/EFA group co-president Daniel Cohn-Bendit feels Sarkozy's presence in Beijing would be "a scandal". "By attending, Nicolas Sarkozy gives his endorsement and seal of approval for China's flagrant disregard of its own promises on human rights," he said.

Speaking in the Parliament, French Minister of State responsible for EU affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet defended his President's stance, arguing that it was better to attend the ceremony in China than to watch it on television, as being present provides an occasion to actually speak with Chinese leaders on such controversial issues.

But Cohn-Bendit rejected such claims, arguing that the French President's priority is rather "the sale of nuclear power stations and Airbuses, not the rights and welfare of countless millions of people".

European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering also sided against Sarkozy, recalling the resolution adopted by the House in April. It urged EU leaders to boycott the opening ceremony in August unless China agrees to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled 'spiritual leader' (EurActiv 11/04/08). "Given that these talks have to date proved inconclusive, I have decided not to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games," he said in a statement.

Graham Watson, the leader of the Alliance of the Liberals and Democrats for Europe, nevertheless took a more conciliatory approach, welcoming member states' new-found "common line" as "a welcome departure from Europe's trademark divisions on foreign policy". However, he cautioned, "a bull-in-a-china-shop Europe is not what we need. Representing the EU's 500 million citizens, Nicolas Sarkozy should tread carefully between embracing co-operation with Beijing and making clear our disapproval of China's human rights violations".  

Earlier this spring, the athletes' commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had issued a passionate statement pleading with world leaders not to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics. It argued that athletes have trained for years for their moment in the limelight and "deserve to experience it without being burdened with geopolitical issues - no matter how important those issues might be". 

The athletes argued that world conflicts cannot be addressed by the Games as this would change the essence of "what we are there to do," namely to compete in a spirit of respect, friendship and fair play.

The Beijing Summer Olympics  will take place on 8-24 August.