EU parliament president backs boycott of Games opening ceremony
Tue, 25 Mar 2008

Parliament’s president Hans-Gert Pöttering has backed growing calls for an EU-wide boycott of the opening ceremony of this summer’s Olympic Games. Pöttering is the most senior Western politician to argue in favour of an Olympic protest if the Chinese government continues with its hardline response to unrest in Tibet.

Speaking ahead of a parliament debate this week on the crisis, the centre-right MEP told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper "boycott measures" could be justified if the Chinese failed to negotiate a "compromise" with the Tibetan protest leaders. the rest