While members of the Ukrainian parliament are fighting over the status of the Russian language in Ukraine, English is becoming more popular in the country - without any government directive. Market forces - in which supply dictates demand - as well as the Euro 2012 football (soccer) championship, co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland, are having an impact on Ukrainians becoming trilingual.
Euro 2012 has changed Ukrainians’ daily routine, especially those who
live in the host-cities. The championship has attracted many tourists
to the country, who remind Ukrainians that while the national parliament
struggles to decide which language they should speak – Russian or
Ukrainian – more and more people around the world are turning to
English, especially in international business.