Albania will not be boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics like several other nations over significant human rights abuses.
This week, President of the Albanian National Olympic Committee Fidel Ylli confirmed Albania’s attendance in a statement to Chinese media.
He said he strongly believes the games will be successful “not only from the organizing aspect, but also from the competing aspect of all athletes.”
“Although we have a small team, we will go there to represent Albania in this big event,” he added.
Albania only has one representative at Beijing 2022, 18-year-old Deni Xhepa who has been training in Italy.
Questions to the government on whether officials would be attending remain unanswered at the time of publication.
Countries such as the US, Australia, UK, New Zealand, and Lithuania have announced boycotting the games, while several other EU countries are sending scaled back delegations, or just a team with no officials.
The EU is currently mulling a synchronized approach to boycotting although the consensus among states is unlikely to be found.
The boycott takes place over human rights concerns, including the detention of at least a million Uyghur Muslims in so-called “re-education camps”. There is evidence women have been forcibly sterilised and that others are exposed to forced labour, torture, and sexual abuse.
