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Ukraine - Euro 2012 and after

July 19, 2012

The first European soccer championship to be held in eastern Europe was greeted with euphoria. In the end, though, the hope that the event would help usher in greater political freedom in Ukraine were dashed. Vitali Klitschko, the former boxing world champion and now a politician, takes stock of what the Euro 2012 meant for Ukraine.

https://p.dw.com/p/15ae3

The Euro 2012 did not turn Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych into an advocate of democracy, nor did the boycotts of foreign politicians succeed in improving conditions for Yulia Tymoshenko and fellow members of the opposition. Vitali Klitschko is hoping to turn the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform into the country’s third-strongest political party, but he remains skeptical about the prospects of greater democracy.