EU Ministers do not agree on Ukraine Euro-2012 boycott

The European Union Council of Foreign Ministers, at a meeting yesterday, did not agree on a political boycott of Ukraine hosted matches in the UEFA European Football Championships set to kick off on June 8. The European Commission, led by Jose Manuel Barroso, has already said it will not attend matches in Ukraine over the treatment of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Brad Wells: As we expected, divisions among European politicians are serving to maintain a tenuous but constructive relationship between the EU and Ukraine. While several EU governments will undoubtedly not send delegates to Ukraine or send them but ask them to not meet with Ukrainian government officials, others will come. However, after Euro-2012, we see Kyiv becoming more and more isolated from Europe. With parliamentary election campaigns set to start just a month after the final match, the current government will be keen to stick to its current course, and not want to appear soft by changing its stance on criminal cases against opposition politicians.