The Eurovision Song Contest denied Volodimir Zelensky to give a speech

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyrequested the organization of the Eurovision Song Contest be able to deliver a speech to the audience at the final of the contest, via videoconference, but the request was rejected due to the “apolitical nature of the event”.

This was stated by a spokesman for the event, in statements collected by the international press.

“The Eurovision Song Contest is an international entertainment spectacle and is governed by strict rules and principles that have been in place since its inception. As part of this, one of the cornerstones of the contest is the apolitical nature of the event,” argued a spokesperson for the European Broadcasting Union in statements replicated by the portal Variety.

In this sense, the organization of the event in its 2023 edition stated that, although the request of the Ukrainian president was made “with laudable intentions, unfortunately it cannot be granted, since it would go against the rules of the event.”

“This principle -they added- prohibits the possibility of making political or similar statements as part of the contest”.

After the start of the war with Russia, Zelenski opted to use massive cultural events as platforms to make the conflict visible.

Last February, for example, he had used his intervention via video at the inauguration of the 73rd edition of the Berlin International Film Festival to ask for help for your country.

He Eurovision Song Contest 2023 began last Tuesday in the city of Liverpool, United Kingdom, with the first semifinal, while the second semifinal took place yesterday and the “grand final” will take place tomorrow afternoon.

From that instance of the main European musical contest, 20 classified in the semifinals participate, five seeded (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the winner of last year’s contest, which was precisely Ukraine.