A person didn’t have to be a football fan to love Euro 2012. I can’t remember seeing Kyiv, or Ukraine for that matter, so festive for so long – three whole weeks.
I’ll miss the games, but the fan zone even more.
And while the memories are still fresh, here’s how I think (or hope) that the tournament changed Ukraine:
Think big: We are happy to have called it right in our May 25 editorial when we poured cold water on all the foreign-media reports that Ukraine would be a disastrous host for Euro 2012. We wrote: “Most foreign tourists, especially first-time visitors, are likely to be pleasantly surprised by Ukraine during the Euro 2012 football championships played here from June 9 to July 1. The sun will shine, the games will be played, the beer will be poured and many foreigners will finally see for themselves the beauty of Ukraine and Ukrainians.”
Yes, a lot could have gone wrong and some things did go wrong, but by and large, the games were a success. And we are happy all the foreign media reports predicting racism, violence, rampant prostitution, price-gouging and logistical nightmares proved to be overblown. Some of these accounts seemed to be written by people who never came here.
But, in reality, staging 16 professional football games is not such a big feat, so maybe the rhetoric should be cooled on all sides – both those who thought Ukraine pulled off a miracle and those who expected disaster.
And let’s not get too cocky: All the problems cited by the foreign media exist, but they do not and should not define Ukraine.
I just hope that Euro 2012 infuses Ukrainians and their leaders with confidence that the nation can, indeed, dream big and achieve those dreams. I think Ukraine should try to go after other big events in the future. It seems that the more international exposure this nation’s people get, the better the world likes – or at least understands — Ukraine. That’s a great thing.
Political isolation will remain as long as authoritarianism does: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quick to seize on the fact that some European leaders did not boycott Ukraine as proof that the politicization of sports was a failure.
“Euro 2012 has shown Ukraine to the world as a truly European, hospitable and tolerant country with a rich history and distinctive culture,” the ministry said in a statement.
Sorry, but to be “truly European,” Ukraine’s leaders from Viktor Yanukovych on down, will have to embrace democracy and not authoritarianism. And that means freeing political prisoners, such as ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and an end to selective justice. That means creating a truly independent court and law enforcement system, unlike the politically subservient charade that is going on now in courtrooms. And it will mean democratic elections, no corporate raiding, an end to the offshore zones where oligarchs and big businesses squirrel away wealth and evade taxes. It will mean transparency in public spending.
Ukraine has a long way to go before Europe considers it European. Hosting 16 football games successfully does not make a country European.
Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected]
