The opening ceremony of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Paralympics takes place on Friday but geopolitical tensions have spurred some countries, including the Czech Republic, Finland and Ukraine, to boycott the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The planned boycotts come after a vexed build-up to the summer Olympics in Italy and continuing political uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, why are some countries boycotting the opening ceremony and how may the event be affected?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The build-up to the Paralympics, and the Winter Olympics before them, have been tense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February, many Italians protested when the United States confirmed it would send security officers from a unit of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the recently completed Winter Olympics. These officers were stationed at the US Consulate in Milan to provide support to the broader US security team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then just this week, the Middle East has been rocked by US-Israeli attacks on Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And on Wednesday, it was revealed the Ukrainian team had to change its uniform for the Paralympics because they featured a map of the country\u2019s internationally recognised borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Items related to national identity are forbidden by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). An alternative uniform was provided within 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This brings us to the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A number of countries \u2013 including Germany, Finland, Latvia, Poland, and the Netherlands \u2013 have said they will boycott it outright or substantially reduce the number of team members who attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some countries will be represented by proxy \u2013 that is, by local volunteers who will hold that nation\u2019s flag and wave, on its behalf, to the dignitaries in the arena and the millions watching worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia is the reason these countries are rallying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The IPC, as with most sports globally, banned athletes from Russia and Belarus from competing in major international events following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the IPC initially imposed a blanket ban, it subsequently allowed a limited number of Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at its General Assembly in September 2025, IPC members voted to fully reinstate the membership rights of both Russia and Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The votes to rescind both the full and partial bans on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing at Paralympics were comprehensive: 2:1 in favour of reinstatement, as premised, in part, on a:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ndesire to separate politics from sport to a belief that the treatment of Russia had been inconsistent with that afforded Israel.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Despite the IPC vote, a number of international federations, which decide on the qualifying criteria for Paralympics, wanted to retain the partial suspension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The matter was appealed to sport\u2019s international court of justice, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which struck down the partial suspension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This meant a limited number of Russian and Belarusian athletes (six and four respectively) will compete at the Milan Cortina Paralympics, and they will do so under their own flags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fallout<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
All of this sparked outrage from Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelensky condemning it as a \u201cdirty decision\u201d at odds with European values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s condemnation has been forcefully supported by many of its European allies \u2013 including Finland, Latvia, Poland and the Netherlands \u2013 the European Commission and Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n