The EBU in its statements today, immediately after the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, stated that Russia remains welcome at Eurovision 2022.
Russia is welcome in Eurovision 2o22
Following the EBU’s statement that Russia remains open to the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, the SVT CEO of the Swedish public service broadcaster called on the EBU to reconsider.
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.
EBU
Sweden is asking EBU reconsider its decision
Speaking to the GP, Hanna Stjärne, CEO of SVT, shared her thoughts on the EBU statement, noting:
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.
SVT
SVT is the first broadcaster to comment publicly on whether Russia should be able to compete in Eurovision 2022, following the invasion of Ukraine this morning.
Ukraine demands expulsion of Russia from the EBU
Earlier, Ukrainian public television asked the EBU to suspend membership of the Russian Public Television Association. Specifically they state:
key values of public service broadcasting;
ensuring freedom of speech and information; free formation of points of view;
development of intercultural dialogue;
In a letter to the President of the European Broadcasting Union, Delphine Ernotte, the Chairman of the Board of Suspilne Mykola Chernotytskyy called on the EBU to:
We recognize that the process of terminating or suspending EBU membership requires careful consideration by the EBU Executive Board and referral to the EBU General Assembly. In the meantime, we call 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.
You can read the full letter here.
Should the EBU choose to suspend its membership from Russia, this will be the second time in 12 months that a broadcaster has lost its membership of the EBU. In July 2021, the Belarusian public broadcaster was suspended as a member of the EBU for failing to fulfill its obligations of freedom of expression.
In the top 3 of bets is Ukraine, except for the top 20 is Russia
While all of the above is happening, Ukraine has risen again in betting, despite the replacement of Alina Pash with the Kalush Orchestra. At the moment it is in the third place, in contrast to Russia which is in a continuous descent in the last hours, as a result of which it is in the 21st place at the time of writing!
Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments!
