Geneva (EFE).- Eurovision will not allow the intervention of the president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, in the final of the musical contest that will be held this Saturday in the British city of Liverpool, because it is an event of an “apolitical nature”.
In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), organizer of the festival, explained that it cannot meet Zelensky’s request to “address the audience at the Eurovision Song Contest.”
Although the Ukrainian president made this request “with good intentions (…) unfortunately it cannot be granted by the management of the European Broadcasting Union, since it would go against the rules of the event,” the organization specified.
The “Eurovision Song Contest is an international entertainment spectacle and is governed by strict rules and principles that have been established since its inception. As part of this, one of the pillars of the Contest is the apolitical nature of the event”, stressed the EBU.
“This principle prohibits the possibility of making political or similar statements as part of the Contest,” it added.
kyiv denies asking Eurovision to invite Zelensky
The Office of the President of Ukraine denied this Friday having contacted the organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest to ask them to invite Volodimir Zelenski to speak at the final of the festival that will take place tomorrow in the British city of Liverpool.
“The Office of the President of Ukraine did not contact the organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest to request the online participation of Volodimir Zelensky during the final or at any other stage of the contest,” said the press secretary of the Ukrainian head of state. , Serhiy Nikiforov, on Facebook.
The Kiev government’s reaction comes after the publication of a statement by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), organizer of the festival, in which it explained that it had received a request from Zelenski to intervene and that it could not respond due to to be an event of an “apolitical nature”.
Last year Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest, in which singers from more than 30 European countries participate, to which Israel and Australia are added, was won last year by the representatives of Ukraine, the country that should be responsible for organizing the contest this year.
Given the war situation that Ukraine is experiencing after the invasion of Russia, the EBU agreed that the contest would be held in 2023 in the United Kingdom, whose participant, representing the BBC, came second last year.
“EBU has ensured from the moment it was agreed that the BBC would organize the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 on behalf of the Ukrainian public broadcaster UA:PBC, that Ukraine, its music, its culture and its creativity would occupy a prominent place in all three live shows,” the organization said.
As many as eleven Ukrainian artists, including last year’s winners Kalush Orchestra, have been included in the semifinals and grand finale of the event.
In addition, 37 locations in Ukraine will be featured in the “postcards”, short films that introduce each of the participating artists before they go on stage.
“We believe that this is the best way to reflect and celebrate Ukraine’s victory in the Eurovision Song Contest and show that we are united by music during these difficult times,” the EBU concluded.