British Government ministers will not be attending England’s group matches
Ministers sit out Euro games
Last updated Sun 10 Jun 2012
No British Government ministers will be attending England’s Group D games in Donetsk and Kyiv amid anger over the treatment of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
The move comes after other European countries including Germany and France announced that senior politicians would boycott games played in Ukraine, which is co-hosting the event with Poland, unless the human rights situation under President Viktor Yanukovych improved.
Today, Mr Hague said the Government would not make a decision on whether ministers would attend matches in the latter stages of the tournament until it was known whether England had successfully negotiated its group.
He said: “We have concerns about Ukraine. It’s possible for the Ukrainian government to improve the situation. If we get to the latter stages, we will announce what we will do then.
“We are not laying down specific conditions but if there is an improvement, we will know improvement when we see it.”