The Slovak Olympic Committee have expressed their support for the participation of neutral Russian athletes at Paris 2024 ©Getty Images

Slovakia’s National Olympic and Sports Committee (SOŠV) has received a letter from opposition party Smer-SD, a member of the European Parliament Socialist group, supporting participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.

"We believe that sport is apolitical, the Olympic Games are the ultimate sporting event, which must not bear signs of hatred, hostility, disrespect or discrimination," Smer-SD National Council member Richard Takáč said as the letter was delivered.

The SOŠV has condemned any decision "to refuse participation of athletes in sporting events based on their nationality," in an official statement saying: "The condition is that the participating athletes do not support military conflicts and that their overall conduct is not contrary to the ethics of sport, Olympism and the Olympic Charter."

Meanwhile, Slovakian Education and Foreign Ministries have both voiced their opposition to any participation by Russia and Belarus at Paris 2024.

"When they say we shouldn’t confuse politics and sport, that is exactly why they shouldn’t be there," Slovak Foreign Minister Rastislav Káčer insisted.

"One country kills for unjustifiable and fabricated reasons, the other fights back, to compete is not an entitlement, but a privilege."

Their stand has been supported by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda who described the retention of an Olympic ban on Russia and Belarus as a "must do" in a social media message.

Earlier in the month, the neighbouring Czech Olympic Committee (ČOV) ruled out any boycott of the Paris 2024.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has received what it describes as "constructive questions", from more than 30 National Olympic Committees seeking clarification on the definition of neutrality to be employed if competitors from Russia and Belarus were permitted.

Former French biathlete and Paris 2024 Board member Martin Fourcade, one of the newest members of the IOC Athletes' Commission said earlier in the month that he would be "embarrassed" if the ban was enforced for Paris 2024.