The Permanent Mission of Italy at the United Nations presented the initiative organized for November 18 at the GA Lobby, an event created together with the Fondazione Milano-Cortina 2026 and the International Olympic Committee. The appointment anticipates the discussion in the General Assembly of the resolution “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”, the document with which the Member States renew support for the Olympic Truce during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Olympic truce, almost always symbolically recalled, has origins in ancient Greece: rival city-state agreed a temporary suspension of conflicts to ensure free passage to Olympia. This practice, called ekecheiria, did not interrupt the ongoing wars but established a period of neutrality useful to the performance of the games. In the 1990s the International Olympic Committee recovered this reference, leading the United Nations to formally support the initiative since 1993 with the adoption of a resolution before each edition of the Games. In 2000, the UN Millennium Declaration included a specific paragraph on the truce, strengthening its political importance.
This year Italy promotes the resolution as host country of the XXV Winter Olympic Games, scheduled from 6 to 22 February 2026, and the XIV Winter Paralympic Games, from 6 to 15 March. During the initiative of 18 November, the Ambassador Maurizio Massari, Deputy Secretary General Bjørg Sandkjær, President of the Fondazione Milano-Cortina 2026 Giovanni Malagò and President of the CIO Kirsty Coventry are scheduled. The program also includes the symbolic passage of the Olympic torches between international Olympic athletes and Paralympics, followed by a short performance by pianist Cristiana Pegoraro entitled “A Tribute to Peace”.
Despite the mainly diplomatic value of the truce, there have been cases where states have not respected the appeal of the IOC and the United Nations. Among the most mentioned episodes are the conflict between Russia and Georgia during the 2008 Beijing Games, the annexation of the Crimea of February 2014 between the Olympic Games and Paralympics of Sochi, and the invasion of Ukraine of February 24, 2022, begun in the period covered by the tregua for the Beijing Winter Games. The resolution that the General Assembly will vote on 19 November proposes the same indications of the previous years, inviting Member States to maintain a stable climate from the period immediately before the opening of the Games until the days after their conclusion. A cocktail will close the appointment at the Sputnik space of the Glass Palace.
L’articolo Italy brings to the UN the Olympic Truce of the Games of Milan-Cortina 2026 proviene da IlNewyorkese.
