German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Environment Minister over the weekend openly called
on top European government officials to boycott the matches. Also,
German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Sunday that Merkel will abstain
from attending any matches and urge her cabinet members to stick to that
policy unless Tymoshenko is freed to undergo treatment abroad.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Voloshin was quoted by the Interfax
news agency as saying that he “would like to think that this is simply
a newspaper canard.”
“I would not like to think that the statesmen of Germany are capable of
reanimating the methods of the Cold War and try to make sport a hostage to
politics.”
But the protests kept coming on Monday. Czech President Vaclav Klaus canceled
his visit to attend a summit of Central European Presidents May 11-12 in
Ukraine because of Tymoshenko’s treatment, Klaus spokesman Radim Ochvat
said.
Ochvat said it is premature to comment if Klaus is planning to also boycott
Euro 2012 football tournament co-host by Poland and Ukraine.
Denmark’s Sports Minister Uffe Elbaek said he also was following the situation
and “continues to have a dialogue with my European colleagues” on
what course of action to take.
Germany has been leading the European Union’s critical stance on Ukraine over
the Tymoshenko case. The government is offering to treat her in Berlin, but
Kiev has rejected the offer. Tymoshenko refuses to be treated in Ukraine.
Source: AP
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