Amid rising geopolitical tentions between Ukraine and Russia, UA:PBC, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, have called on the European Broadasting Union to suspend Russia’s membership, and for them to be withdrawn from Eurovision 2022.
In a letter to the President of the European Broadcasting Union, Chairman of the Board for the Ukrainian broadcaster, Mykola Chernotytsky states that “as an aggressor and vioaltor of international law, Russia should not participate in Eurovision.” And they have called on the EBU to “respond now to the unacceptable situation caused by Russia with the support of its essentially state broadcasters that are members of the EBU.” The full letter can be read here.
EBU allows Russia to participate in Eurovision 2022
The EBU have released a statement, to muliple outlets, in which they state that Russia is welcome to participate in Eurovision 2022, despite calls from European broadcasters to revise this decision.
“The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political cultural event that unites countries and celebrates differences through music. EBU members in both Russia and Ukraine have committed to participating in this year’s event in Turin and we intend to welcome and let artists from both countries participate in May. Of course, we continue to follow developments closely.”
SVT joins calls for EBU to rethink decision
Hanna Stjärne, the CEO of Swedish broascaster SVT, has given her thoughts on the EBU’s decision to allow Russia to compete in Eurovision 2022, and has asked the union to rethink their decision: “The EBU needs to rethink. I sympathise with the basic idea of Eurovision as an apolitical event. But the situation in Europe is extremely serious, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It crosses all boundaries. We have called on the EBU to change and will follow developments closely.”
Ukraine will be represented at Eurovision 2022 by Kalush Orchestra and their song “Stefania”, after Vidbir winner Alina Pash decided to withdraw from this years contest. As of now, Russia have not revealed any details of their selection process for Eurovision 2022.
