You're reading: Yanukovych says no racism and xenophobia in Ukraine

There is no racism or xenophobia in Ukraine and the conflicts that sometimes occur on ethnic grounds are of the local character, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said.

“In our country, as well as in any other country in which many
nationalities live, unfortunately, misunderstandings on ethnic grounds
happen. Unlike in many other countries, manifestations of inter-ethnic
and inter-religious hostility [in Ukraine] are of a local character and
do not grow into conflicts,” he said at the sitting of the public
humanitarian council in Kyiv on Tuesday.

According to the president, holding of Euro 2012 in Ukraine showed
that all attempts to discredit Ukraine to the world community failed.

The head of the state also noted that no case of conflict on inter-ethnic or inter-religious grounds was seen during Euro 2012.