Opposition calls for Euro 2012 Ukraine boycott

Jaroslaw Kaczynski: photo - wybierzpis org pl

“In view of the political events in Ukraine and the situation of imprisoned opposition leader Julia Tymoszenko, Law and Justice advocates a boycott of the European football championship games taking place in Ukraine, to put further pressure on the Ukrainian government,” conservative-national party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has said.

Kaczynski adds that, “the Polish government should also threaten to boycott the Ukrainian part of the championships”.

Austrian and Dutch governing officials said on Wednesday that they would not be attending Euro 2012 matches in Ukraine, following announcements by the German government that they would only be attending the matches in Poland if Ukraine's human rights record does not improve immediately.

President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso has already said he will not be attending the Ukraine matches.

Euro 2012 begins in Poland and Ukraine on 8 June.

Former Orange Revolution leader Tymoshenko is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence after being found guilty of “abuse of power” when she was concluding an energy deal as prime minister with Russia in 2008.

The EU has said it was concerned at the “political nature” of the trial and imprisonment of Tymoshenko.

Polish president Bronislaw Komorowski has said that the boycotts are inappropriate.

“There have been numerous cases in various democratic countries of denunciations or accusations of presidents and prime ministers but they never led to boycotting [sports] competitions," Komorowski told the TVP public broadcaster. (pg/ab)