Conflicts & War

Ukraine will not host Eurovision 2023 due to Russian invasion

Geneva, Jun 17 (EFE).- Eurovision 2023 will not be held in Ukraine due security issues caused by Russia’s invasion, the European Broadcasting Union said Friday.

“Given the ongoing war since the Russian invasion of this year’s winning country, the EBU has taken the time to conduct a full assessment and feasibility study with both UA:PBC (Ukraine’s public broadcasting service) and third-party specialists including on safety and security issues,” the EBU said in a statement.

Ukraine was slated to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest after winning the competition in May this year.

“Following objective analysis, the Reference Group, the ESC’s governing board, has with deep regret concluded that, given the current circumstances, the security and operational guarantees required for a broadcaster to host, organize and produce the Eurovision Song Contest under the ESC Rules cannot be fulfilled by UA:PBC,” EBU said.

EBU said it shared Ukraine’s “sadness and disappointment” that next year’s Contest could not be held in Ukraine and that it was in talks with the BBC to potentially host the contest in the United Kingdom.

“It is our full intention that Ukraine’s win will be reflected in next year’s shows. This will be a priority for us in our discussions with the eventual hosts,” EBU concluded. EFE

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