UN urges all nations to observe a truce during the Winter Olympics in Italy

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday urged all nations to observe a truce during the Winter Olympics in Italy, saying a halt to fighting during one of the world’s premiere sporting events can be “a tool to promote peace, dialogue, tolerance and reconciliation.”

The adoption of the resolution by consensus in the 193-nation world body was greeted with applause from diplomats, the International Olympic Committee and sports representatives.

The resolution recalled the ancient Greek tradition of ekecheiria, or Olympic Truce, to encourage a peaceful environment and ensure safe passage and participation of athletes in the games, “thereby mobilizing the youth of the world to the cause of peace.”

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina and Milan run from Feb. 4 to Feb. 26, followed by the Paralympics from March 6 to March15.

The General Assembly revived calls for an Olympic Truce in 1993 after an appeal from the International Olympic Committee allowed athletes of war-torn Yugoslavia, which was on the brink of breaking up, to participate in the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona.

Unfortunately, many countries in the past have refused to heed the appeal, and whether it will have any impact on the major conflicts today remains to be seen.

International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry told the assembly just before the resolution’s adoption that in a world where “conflict and division continue to cause untold suffering” the Olympic Games “can offer a rare space where people meet not as adversaries but as fellow human beings.”

She said the Olympic Truce is “a call to set aside what divides us and rather to focus on what unites us.”

But she stressed that athletes can’t do this alone.

She urged all countries “to keep sport and politics apart” and ensure that athletes are not denied visas for politically motivated reasons. She said athletes “must not be judged on where they come from, but rather on their sporting merits.”

Italy’s Giovanni Malagò, president of the organizing committee for the Winter Olympics, introduced the resolution.

“At a time of growing discord and conflict, sport and the Olympic Games can provide a beacon of hope, an alternative to rivalry and division,” he said.

While the Olympics are founded on competition, Malagò said, “throughout their history they have demonstrated something even more powerful — a sense of humanity which transcends even the greatest of athletic achievements.”