Barroso has 'no intention' of going to Ukraine

(BRUSSELS) - European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has "no intention" of travelling to Ukraine or attending events there such as the Euro 2012 football championship, his spokeswoman said Monday.

Asked whether the Commission had decided to boycott the June event due to concerns over jailed ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko, Barroso's spokeswoman said: "The president has no intention at this point in time of going to Ukraine or participating in events in Ukraine."

The Commission, which is the EU executive, last week told UEFA it could not ignore the plight of the 51-year-old former premier ahead of the championship, but the European football body defended the decision to let Kiev co-host it.

European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding was invited by UEFA chief Michel Platini to attend the opening ceremony of the tournament in Ukraine but said she had declined the offer for "institutional reasons."

Reding said she told Platini "to take into account the dramatic situation" of Tymoshenko, who is on a hunger strike and claims she was beaten by her jailers.

"You cannot close your eyes on human rights, even during a great sporting celebration," she told reporters after talks among EU justice ministers in Luxembourg.

But Platini defended the decision to let Ukraine host the 2012 tournament with Poland, noting that Tymoshenko was on the verge of taking power when Ukraine was awarded the event in 2007.

"Of course it is difficult when the political situation is unstable. Ukraine has had five sports ministers in five years. But what should we do?" he told Germany's Die Welt newspaper.

"Not give the European Championships to countries like Ukraine because not everything there is as stable as in western European democracies? That is not a solution," he added.

The Ukraine opposition leader was jailed in October on charges of abuse of power in a move that has strained relations between Ukraine and the EU, and faces a second trial for alleged tax evasion.