The global media spotlight that will shine on Ukraine for three weeks in June during the Euro 2012 football championship may not be as flattering as the government hopes.
The nation’s leadership, with its deep misunderstanding of the West, is to blame for the gloomy stories that will not originate in places like the Donbass Arena in Donetsk, but on the Polish-Ukrainian border crossing at Dorohus-Yahodyn.
This is where German journalist Olaf Sundermeyer and two colleagues reported having to wait seven hours on the Ukrainian side of the border before being let in to continue their drive to Kyiv. By contrast, they spent only 20 minutes on the Polish side. Sundermeyer said Ukrainian border guards demanded an apparent bribe during the ordeal.
Or the publicity could be stirred up by British journalists who recently reported on HIV positive prostitutes in Donetsk while other Western journalists have reported on the inhumane treatment of homeless dogs in Kyiv. Yet on April 3, Swedish journalists visited the Kyiv Post. They showed concern that there were work-site deaths reported at Olympic Stadium.
The nation’s leaders naively believe that foreign journalists are coming to exclusively write about soccer. This line of thought extends to its grasp of foreign policy. The leaders just don’t get it. For foreign journalists unfamiliar with Ukraine, Euro 2012 will either be a good or bad message. It’s that simple.
And the original Euro 2012 narrative has collapsed – that of new European Union member (Poland) with a solid economy bridging relations with an aspiring democratic country (Ukraine) – courtesy of President Viktor Yanukovych’s increasingly authoritarian ways.
Now, the narrative is: Look how great Poland is doing compared to Ukraine, which is failing to become a full-fledged democracy with strong governing institutions and not developing its economy much beyond its heavy dependence on raw material exports.
Don’t expect any European leader to clamor to get a seat next to President Viktor Yanukovych during the games. Indeed, Yanukovych might get booed. The cascade of bad news looks set to drown out the good stories, sadly, but perhaps accurately for Ukraine in its current state. It’s unclear what the consequences will be, other than a spate of bad headlines.
Those in power should start thinking about how to change the narrative – starting by setting ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and ex-Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko free – before the world’s press descends on Ukraine en masse.
