You're reading: Spokeswoman says EU’s Barroso will not visit Ukraine

BRUSSELS - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will not visit Ukraine because of the treatment of imprisoned former prime ministers Yulia Tymoshenko, adding to the number of European leaders boycotting the country, his spokeswoman said on Monday.

Ukraine is hosting a summit of central European presidents in the Black Sea resort of Yalta on May 11-12, and the Euro 2012 soccer tournament, which it is co-hosting with Poland, in June.

It was not clear whether Barroso, head of the EU’s executive, had been planning to attend either of these events.

"As far as the president is concerned, it is clear that as things stand now, the president has no intention of going to Ukraine or indeed participating in events in Ukraine at this point in time," spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told a briefing.

Over the past week, both German President Joachim Gauck and Czech President Vaclav Klaus have cancelled plans to visit the Yalta summit over the case which has strained relations between the EU and the ex-Soviet nation. Tymoshenko, 51, was jailed last October for seven years for abusing her power as prime minister in a case described by many in Europe as politically motivated. She has been on hunger strike after saying she had been beaten by prison guards, an accusation jail authorities deny.