– I think he must have conquered 99 percent of the women in Russia. When he speaks, many women listen. Very few women listen to other politicians, says Välbe to the state-owned Russian news agency RIA with a smile on her face. The Russian cross-country president has largely refrained from commenting on politics after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Now she comes out with unreserved support for Vladimir Putin – and appears full of admiration for him. – All the years Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was elected president, I voted for him. I was his adviser. Therefore, I will never contradict, discuss or even think about his decisions, because I trust him completely. And I think that’s absolutely right, says Välbe in the interview. The powerful cross-country president has previously been involved in politics through Putin’s United Russia party. As recently as 2021, she ran for a seat in the Russian parliament, but ended up withdrawing her candidacy. – That 99 percent of women support Putin, I don’t believe anything. If you read the state-controlled media in Russia, you can get that impression. That is completely wrong. There are some who understand that and still support him. That’s what Ivar Dale, expert adviser in the Norwegian Helsinki Committee to news, says, who believes that Välbe’s statements show that she has an interest in the regime continuing. – The war is going badly for Putin and they may need new, positive voices, continues Dale. – Choosing a confrontational line After the invasion of Ukraine, Välbe has kept a low profile. This has now been broken and news’s sports commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt believes she must now be dismissed from all positions connected to sport. – It is completely reprehensible that a cross-country president makes these statements. None of the content surprises me, but she has kept a low profile since the invasion of Ukraine in order not to provoke the international skiing community, says Saltvedt and follows up: – Now she chooses a confrontational line that either shows that her position internally is weakened or she is confident that Russia will be brought back sooner than many thought. CRITICAL: news’s sports commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt believes Välbe should now be dismissed from all positions in international sports in the future. Photo: Martin Leigland / news He is now wondering about the timing of the Russian cross-country president. – She has deliberately withheld her support for Putin in public since the invasion. Now she obviously has more to gain or feels she needs to show this externally, says Saltvedt. – Should this statement disqualify her from future positions for international skiing? – I take nothing for granted in that world. She should be written off for the foreseeable future from participating in FIS contexts at all. The willingness to forgive is greater in organizations that depend on income from large nations such as Russia, says Saltvedt. “No 1 Russia” When VG met her for an interview before the Lahti WC in 2017, she posed with his portrait on the T-shirt and the text “No 1 Russia”. The newspaper writes that the background image on the phone also had his face. – Nothing has changed. I buy them from time to time. My children and grandchildren have those T-shirts. I’ll say it again: We are athletes and patriots. – I am a child of the Soviet Union and lived under the Commonwealth for a long time. We were brought up to love the motherland, respect the leader and respect the elders. no one has ever said that I don’t have the right to express my opinions, says Välbe.
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Jelena Välbe’s Putin tribute arouses disgust – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
