Eurovision officials: Decision about sanctions against Russia and Ukraine has not been made
Executive supervisor of Eurovision Jon Ola Sand confirmed that the decision on imposing sanctions against Ukraine and Russia was postponed until after the end of the song contest in Kyiv.
“With regard to the imposing of sanctions against Ukraine and Russia, no decision has been made yet. This topic will be discussed only after the current Eurovision Song Contest has concluded. We are now focusing our attention on all of the countries participating in the competition to prepare three major shows (two semifinals and the final), and then we’ll discuss this situation. As of now, nothing has been decided about the sanctions, how long they will last or when they will start,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv organized by Eurovision on Wednesday, May 10th.
Jon Ola Sand noted that a very specific situation arose this year at the Eurovision Song Contest, when the proposed Russian performer Yuliya Samoylova was not given an entry visa, and Russia decided not to broadcast the song contest taking place in Kyiv because of this. The executive producer of Eurovision said that the decision on possible sanctions against Ukraine and Russia would be made on the basis of the current rules, but pointed out that an inflexible position is inadmissible in this situation.
Jon Ola Sand described the decision of Ukraine not to allow Samoylova to enter the country as wrong; in his words, it undermines the “non-political essence of the contest.” Additionally, the representative of Eurovision stressed that the decision to issue visas was not made by the European Broadcasting Union, but by the authorities of Ukraine, and the situation around this will be discussed at the next EBU meeting in June.