Kate Connolly writes:
Angela Merkel is planning to boycott next month's Euro 2012 football tournament in Ukraine unless imprisoned opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko is released, according to newspaper reports. The German chancellor's decision came as the former Ukrainian prime minister's daughter made an impassioned plea to the German government to "save the life" of her mother, who is has spent 10 days on hunger strike.
"Save my mother's life before it's too late," Eugenia Tymoshenko urged the German leadership in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung newspaper. "The fate of my mother and that of my country are now one and the same thing: if she dies, democracy dies with her".
Read the full story here.
The Guardian: Angela Merkel plans Euro 2012 boycott if Yulia Tymoshenko kept in jail
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych address a press conference following talks at the chancellery in Berlin August 30, 2010. Merkel said on August 30, 2010 she held \"very open\" talks with Yanukovych about press freedom following criticisms from journalists and international watchdogs.
