Geneva, 25 February 2022
The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and the Russian federation has sent waves of outrage rippling through the Eurovision Song Contest as well. Yesterday, Ukrainian public Broadcaster Suspilne (UA:PBC) posted an open letter to the EBU, asking the European Broadcasting Union to suspend Russia’s participation in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.
A suspension from the EBU would result in Russia’s immediate and indefinite exclusion from EBU-hosted events, such as the Eurovision Song Contest and its spin-off events.
The EBU have -for the moment- allowed the Russian federation to participate in Turin, issuing the following statement:
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 pledged to attend this year’s event in Turin and we intend to welcome them and let artists from both countries participate in May. Of course, we continue to monitor developments closely.
Since then, several participating broadcasters and participants have spoken out against this decision, urging the EBU to reconsider.
Sweden’s SVT were the first to officially declare their support for Ukraine, pleading to the EBU to suspend Russia’s EBU membership (similar to how they excluded Belarus’s state broadcaster last year) and hinting that SVT would not be willing to take part in Eurovision if Russia were to attend as well.
Danish broadcaster DR, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS and Icelandic broadcaster RÚV have joined SVT plea, urging the EBU to reconsider their stance on allowing Russia’s broadcasters to participate in Turin.
Other EBU members have made more concrete statements, with Finland’s YLE being the first to confirm they would withdraw if Russia got to compete. YLE’s sentiment was later echoed by the broadcasters from Norway, Estonia and Lithuania.
A few artists participating in Turin have chosen to express sympathy for Ukraine’s side, with Latvia’s Citi Zeni leading the pack. Georgia’s Circus Mircus and Norway’s Subwoolfer have also openly declared their support for the Ukraine.
By our knowledge, nobody has spoken out in favour of Russia’s participation yet.
What the EBU will do remains to be seen.
Statements made by broadcasters:
- Suspilne – Ukraine
- SVT – Sweden
- DR – Denmark
- NRK – Norway
- AVROTROS – Netherlands
- YLE – Finland
- LRT – Lithuania
- EER – Estonia
- RÚV – Iceland
Statements made by participating acts:
For a comprehensive post on yesterday’s developments, check out this post
Indicentally, we at ESCUnited have decided to no longer cover Russia’s participation at Eurovision 2022. Read our statement here.
Do #YOU think Russia should be excluded or do #YOU feel they should be allowed in? Join the discussion on social media, our forum or our discord to let us know!
EBU Bans Russia from Eurovision 2022: “The inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Contest would bring the competition into disrepute.” – escYOUnited
February 25, 2022 at 16:41
[…] from several artists and pleas from a number of this year’s competing broadcasters (read more here), the EBU have announced today that Russia will not be allowed to compete at this year’s […]