Unlike the soon-to-finish Winter Olympics, where Russian and Belarusian athletes have been competing, but only under a neutral flag, at next month's Paralympics, competitors from these two countries will be able to take part under their own national flags, albeit only in selected events.

The Estonian Paralympic Committee (EPK) thus condemns the decision by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) to allow 10 parasport athletes from aggressor states Russia and Belarus to compete at the Winter Paralympics, under their national flags and symbols.

The EPK says it made its decision out of solidarity with Ukraine and in response to the IPC and FIS decisions to allocate berths to the Russian and Belarusian parasport athletes across three disciplines: Snowboarding, alpine skiing, and cross-country skiing.

The EPK says it backs Ukraine's official decision not to participate in the Games' official ceremonies and considers a unified and principled approach among European countries vital, on the understanding that sport must never become a tool for normalizing aggression.

Sport in Estonia falls under the Ministry of Culture's remit, and the minister supports the EPK's position and likewise condemns allowing athletes from aggressor states to compete at the Paralympic Games under their national symbols.

In line with the decision, official EPK representatives will not be attending the opening ceremony, closing ceremony, or any IPC official receptions at the games, which start March 6.

Norman Põder, adviser to the ministry's sports department, is traveling to the Milano-Cortina Winter Paralympics, but he too will be absent from the opening ceremony, intending instead to support Estonian athletes at the competition venues.

Head of the Estonian delegation Alfred Värnik meanwhile said that athletes' preparation and participation in competitions will go ahead as planned, saying they had done "exceptional work," adding that while athletes' efforts must be supported, "At the same time, as an organization we believe that international sport must stand for values that protect human rights and the principles of international law."

The EPK says it is working closely with its counterparts elsewhere in the Baltic states and with international partners, to safeguard athletes' safety, rights, and equal treatment.

Estonia is to be represented at the Paralympics by wheelchair curling mixed doubles pair Ain Villau and Kätlin Riidebach, a discipline from which Russian and Belarusian competitors are excluded.

Russia was able to exploit the fragmented nature of governing bodies across the Paralympics' various disciplines, protesting the exclusion of the national flag and appealing to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the matter.

Russia obtained results favorable to it from some, but not all, governing bodies, hence not being able to enter competitors in all of the events at the games.

The Milano-Cortina Winter Paralympic Games' opening ceremony is on Friday, March 6, and the closing ceremony is on March 15.

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