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.”