Claims of racism overblown, says Ukrainian campaigner

Ukrainian anti-racism expert and foreign fans said fears of racist attacks at Euro 2012 were “overblown” despite allegations of racism aired in a British television documentary.

“I think this reaction (to racism) is exaggerated. My colleagues do not predict any increase of racist violence in Ukraine during the European football championship,” said anti-racism campaigner Maksym Butkevych.

Butkevych believes there was still a lot of work to be done in educating the Ukrainian public but added: “To be frank, the Ukrainian situation regarding racism and xenophobia is not something exceptional in the Eastern European context.”

Butkevych, who works with victims of racism and xenophobia, said he would welcome an investigation into the findings in the controversial BBC documentary which was broadcast last month, something which the Ukrainian government has not yet undertaken.