You're reading: Euro 2012 blog: Swedish police keep an eye on fans

Swedish police have joined Swedish fans and the nation’s football team in Kyiv.

Swedish police have joined Swedish fans and the nation’s football team in Kyiv.

Some 15 uniformed officers are tagging along at Euro 2012 for as long as the Swedish national team stays alive in the tournament. Their opening match is at 9:45 p.m. today against Ukraine.

These officers have no law enforcement authority abroad and don’t carry any weapons.

But still their presence helps tamp down any hooliganism, said officer Dan Lindqwister, who was standing near the Swedish fan zone on Khreshchatyk Street on June 10.

“To supporters who behave badly at home, we tell them: ‘Stay cool, we know you’re here,”’ said Lindqwister, in between posing for photos with fans and chatting with passersby.

“When beer is cheap and it’s warm outside, a few people will get in trouble,” Lindqwister said. “That’s the way it is.”

But so far Lindqwister likes the “good mood” in Kyiv. “Everything’s working. Hopefully it stays that way,” he said.

The officer said Sweden has had minor-scale problems with football hooligans, but not to the extent of England or other nations in the 1980s, when fan brawls frequently marred the sporting competition.

He said police occasionally have to ban troublemakers from attending games in Sweden, but have not drawn up a list of fans prohibited from traveling abroad.

Traveling police are a normal feature of European soccer, Lindqwister said, although “Ukrainians are not used to it.”

“It’s the way we do it within Europe,” he said. “We’ve tried it before and it works.”

Lindqwister was also on duty for the Euro 2008 games co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland.

Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected]