Russia and Hungary criticized the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, France Press reported.
Russia was excluded from participation in the major sporting event because of its invasion of Ukraine, the agency recalls.
The spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, stated in "Telegram" that the ceremony was a "colossal failure". During her time there were many things that did not work. She mentioned the problems with transport, following the sabotage of high-speed rail lines in France, and how spectators watching the opening live had to stand for hours in the pouring rain, as organizers had not provided for shelters or enforced rain cloud dispersal technologies.
Zakharova also criticized Paris, whose center she said had become a ghetto and was infested with rats, and added that one of the torchbearers of the Olympic flame was “drug addict rapper Snoop Dogg”.
The spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also criticized the fact that during the opening ceremony of the Games there was an "LGBT parody of the Last Supper", during which the "apostles were represented by transvestites". . Zakharova recalled that the Last Supper is a “sacred topic for Christians”.
Similar criticism came from the Russian Orthodox Church, which expressed outrage and referred to “historical and cultural suicide” in a “Christian capital of European civilization”.
Criticism also came from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who said the ceremony embodied "Western emptiness".
"Little by little they have shaken off the metaphysical ties to God, to the fatherland and to the family," he said in a speech to Hungarians living in Romania, referring to Westerners in general. This, according to him, has led to a lack of public morality. As an illustration of this lack, he pointed to the opening ceremony of the Games in Paris.
In France itself, voices were raised from the extreme right about some scenes of the ceremony. And bishops expressed regret that during the ceremony there were "scenes of mockery and ridicule of Christianity".
There were mixed comments in the media around the world about the ceremony, which took place yesterday evening in the center of Paris.
The French “Mond“ notes that set designer Thomas Joly has managed to present an immersive show in a capital city transformed into a giant stage. The right-leaning French “Figaro“ described the ceremony as great, but added that there were unnecessarily provocative scenes, including an apparent reenactment of the Last Supper scene against the backdrop of a fashion show.
According to the “New York Times“ the ceremony was on the one hand different and entertaining, but on the other hand it was another bloated spectacle made for television. According to the “Washington Post” the ceremony has brought back the luster of this event, which had dimmed in recent years, and embodied bold thinking.
The German c. “Frankfurter allgemeine Zeitung“ called the ceremony “as crazy as it is beautiful” and said that France had made a revolution in this kind of ceremony, so that at last even the rain was conquered.
The British “Daily Mail“ described the ceremony as a “farce", mainly in relation to the disruption of train services earlier in the day, but the newspaper also judged that Paris' bet on the weather had "failed spectacularly". The British newspaper "Guardian" wrote that "the grand ambitions for the ceremony were marred by shoddy execution.
In Italy “Gadzeta delo sport“ wrote that the ceremony was "something unprecedented, even extraordinary. A magnificent show or a long, tedious job, depending on your perspective and sensibilities." “Corriere della Sera“ likened the show to a contemporary art spectacle, noting that "some viewers were bored, others were amused, for many the spectacle was disappointing". The left-wing Italian daily “Republika“ stated that the ceremony overshadowed the athletes. "A lot of France, a lot of Paris, very little Olympics," comments the publication.
Earlier today at a press conference, the set designer of the ceremony, Thomas Joly, defended its concept against criticism. A similar defense was made by the head of the organizing committee of the Games, Tony Estange.
AFP reports that the ceremony was watched in France by more than 23 million viewers on television, and live by 326,000 viewers stationed at various locations in central Paris.