Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has appealed to French counterpart Francois Hollande to help Ukrainian football fans get visas for Euro 2016, his office said.
"The head of state (asked) President Hollande to facilitate the issuance of visas for Ukrainian fans who are planning to visit the European Football Championship in France", the official statement said late Monday.
About 10 fans gathered outside the French embassy in Kiev Monday in protest against delays in getting the visas. The tournament starts Friday.
In a petition to French Ambassador Isabelle Dumont, protesters said 100 applications have been rejected and a thousand people were still waiting for an answer.
"The situation already seems critical", fans said in their statement.
Among those denied a visa is an eight-year-old boy, Volodymyr Bobenchik, a passionate supporter of the national squad and who even trains with them.
A visa-free regime with the EU is one of the core promises of the pro-Western government that came to power in Ukraine in 2014.
In late April, the European Commission proposed short-stay visa-free travel in Europe to Ukrainians with biometric passports, a measure to be voted on by EU member states.
Ukraine will be competing in their second European Championship in Group C alongside Germany, Poland and Northern Ireland.
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