Slovakia called for the return of the Russian flag at international competitions

Slovakia opposes discrimination against Russian athletes and wants the return of the Russian flag at international competitions. This was announced on Monday, May 5, by the Deputy Speaker of the country's parliament, Tibor Gaspar.

"I have been criticizing for a long time that Russian athletes at international games have to compete under the flag of a third country, but not Russia. I want to believe that all this will end, because this hatred between people and, in particular, Russophobia is getting stronger," he said in an interview with TASS.

According to him, such hatred between people is "very close" to hatred between nations.

Back-and-forth offensive: is a Russian comeback in big-time football real?

There are positive signals from FIFA, but technical solutions from regulators are important.

On March 14, the Russian Sports Minister thanked Hungary for consistently defending Olympic values. He noted that sport is an important channel of diplomacy designed to unite people, not divide them.

In turn, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on March 26 that the country had always opposed the politicization of sports and that was why it was blocking EU sanctions against the ROC.