Italy has 'no plans' for contact with Alexander Lukashenko during football match amid row over Belarus human rights record
They have overlooked criticism of Ukraine's human rights record to attend the final of the European football championships in Kiev tonight, but the prime ministers of Italy and Spain could see their visit further complicated by the presence at the stadium of Alexander Lukashenko, the pariah president of Belarus.
Italy's Mario Monti and Mariano Rajoy of Spain are flying in to watch the match after leaders, including David Cameron, said they would not attend the tournament in protest at the jailing of former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko for seven years for abuse of office.
Many observers consider the conviction to be politically motivated.
A spokesman for the Italian government said there was no formal EU position on whether to attend games, and that Monti was "going to support Italy just as the Spanish prime minister is going to support Spain, and just as Angela Merkel would have gone had Germany made the final".
The two leaders may risk embarrassment if they rub shoulders with Lukashenko, who has been criticised for his human rights record, is subject to EU and US sanctions, and has been invited to the game by the Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych.
The Italian government official said "no contact was planned" between Monti and Lukashenko.
Lukashenko often attends meetings with world leaders with his eight-year old son Nikolai, who he is grooming as his successor. Attending a recent meeting between his father and the Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, Nicolai appeared to be wearing a gun under his jacket.
Femen, the Ukrainian female protest group which holds topless demonstrations, has protested against Lukashenko's visit outside Kiev's Olympic stadium, dressed in ski masks and wielding batons to imitate Belarus security officers.
In Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko's daughter has said her mother will be watching the final on television from the hospital where she is being held in custody. Tymoshenko would not support either team "but hopes to see a good game", her daughter Eugenia told the Italian news agency Ansa.
But she warned that Europe's politicians should not stop criticising Ukraine's democratic track record. "Politicians must put further pressure on the Ianukovich regime, even if Italy-Spain is only sport," she said.
A Ukrainian government spokesman said it was grateful to Italy and Spain for "not mixing football and politics". Read More
انسخ الكود التالى و ضعه فى موقعك او مدونتك.
