Ahead of the Eurovision final, the event’s organizers’ decision to prevent the broadcast of a video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the contest sparked widespread criticism in the United Kingdom, the host country of the edition.
“The values and freedoms defended by President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people are not political, but fundamental,” said a spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, adding that the British government was “disappointed” by the decision.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organizer of the music festival, announced on Thursday night the 11th that it had rejected the request of the President of Ukraine to participate with a video message during the final.
“One of the fundamentals of the competition is the non-political nature of the event. This policy prohibits political or related statements during the competition,” the EBU said in a statement.
“Zelensky’s request to address the Eurovision audience, while well-intentioned, unfortunately cannot be accepted as it violates the rules of the event,” the federation added.
This year’s Eurovision will be celebrated in Liverpool, North of England. The United Kingdom – which finished second last time – will host the event in place of 2022 winner Ukraine, which was due to host the event but had to pull out due to conflicts with Russia.
“The Prime Minister thinks that President Zelensky will be right to speak during the event,” Sunak’s spokesman insisted. According to him, Eurovision organizers decided to exclude Russia from the competition last year as a result of the attacks in Ukraine.
Russia is banned, while British MPs have raised concerns about possible cyberattacks by pro-Russian hackers during the event, as they were accused of doing last year.
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