The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will not make a speech via video link on the final day of theEurovision Song Contest 2023. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) made it known, explaining that it had rejected Zelensky’s request to intervene. The event is taking place in Liverpool, but should have been held in Ukraine given last year’s victory for his band Kalush Orchestra.
“The Eurovision Song Contest is an international entertainment show and takes place on the basis of strict rules and principles that have been established since its creation”, reads a note from the EBU which underlines ”the apolitical nature of the event ”. And it is precisely “this principle that prohibits the possibility of making political or similar statements as part of the competition”. The note therefore states that Zelensky’s request to address the public of the competition “unfortunately cannot be accepted as it would be contrary to the rules of the event”, although it was formulated with “commendable intentions”.
