EU politicians announce Yalta summit boycott

Five European Union countries plan to sit out a summit of Central European presidents in Ukraine’s Crimean resort of Yalta on May 11-12 over concern about the health and treatment of imprisoned opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, according to media reports. The five countries that have announced a boycott are Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia and Slovenia. EurActiv reported that Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the presidents of Italy and Estonia also do not plan to attend, but stressed that the cancellations had come at different times and cited other commitments. The summit could presage an EU political boycott of football matches hosted by Ukraine for the UEFA Euro-2012 championship in June.