FILE PHOTO: Figure Skating - ISU European Figure Skating Championships - Espoo Metro Areena, Espoo, Finland - January 25, 2023 Hungary's Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko in action during the pairs short program PHOTOGRAPHER/Lehtikuva via REUTERS
(Reuters) - Hungary's skating federation said the country has withdrawn from hosting the 2024 European Figure Skating Championships due to the economic impact of Russia's war in neighbouring Ukraine.
Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in what Moscow calls a "special military operation".
The Hungarian federation said in a statement it could no longer host the Jan. 22-28 event in Budapest due to the war and "its impact on the economy and the energy prices that have a significant impact on the sport of skating".
The International Skating Union said in a separate statement that is had reopened applications for hosting the event, with bids required to be submitted by May 26.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
