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Neither France's president, François Hollande, nor any top French official will attend the next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi, the country's foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, has said.
The decision to hold the Games in Russia has been criticised in France due to concerns over human rights abuses and a law passed in June that bans "gay propaganda", which critics say discriminates against homosexuals.
Fabius offered no explanation for the move. "There are no plans to attend," he told Europe 1 radio, referring to Hollande and himself. "Top French officials have no plans to be there."
Last week the office of the German president, Joachim Gauck, announced that he would not be attending the Sochi Games. The German government's human rights commissioner praised Gauck's decision as a "wonderful gesture".
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