Ukrainian public television, UA: PBC, on Wednesday called on Delphine Ernotte to exclude Russia from Eurovision. This request seems quite absurd given the current context, but it is quite serious.
Specifically, the Ukrainian media is demanding that its Russian equivalents, including Channel One and VDTRK, be excluded from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). This body, which brings together some 116 organizations from 56 countries (for France: France Télévisions, France Médias Monde, Radio France and Europe 1), negotiates for its members the rights to broadcast international events, such as the World Cups, UEFA tournaments and the Olympic Games. She also oversees the organization of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Yes UA: PBC sent its letter to Delphine Ernotteit is because the president of France Télévisions was elected at the head of the EBU on January 1, 2021, for a period of two years.
“Instruments of political propaganda financed by the Russian state”
In its missive, the Ukrainian broadcaster writes that Russia “has ignored international law, the United Nations Charter, and violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state”. Channel One and VDTRK are accused of being “spokespersons for the Kremlin”, “instruments of political propaganda financed by the Russian state”, of “constantly disseminating disinformation”, of “breaching ethics journalism” and “to be a driving force in the Russian government’s information war against Ukraine and the rest of the civilized world”. According to UA:PBC, these Russian media are in breach of the EBU charter which ensures that its members “guarantee freedom of expression and information”. Ukrainian television believes that their exclusion from the EBU would thus be justified.
She bases her argument on the fact that, in May 2021, the EBU suspended the membership of Belarusian public television BTRC after noting “the gradual deterioration of media freedom in Belarus” and having “concerned about the dissemination of interviews visibly obtained under duress”. The former Soviet republic can no longer participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.
“Excluding Russia from Eurovision would be a powerful response”
The musical competition regularly goes beyond its status of simple entertainment to become the sounding board of European geopolitics. It is a tool of soft-power and tensions between Russia and Ukraine have been regularly expressed in this context.
“We would like to point out that the Eurovision Song Contest was created after the Second World War to unite Europe. In this light, Russia’s participation as an aggressor and violator of international law in this year’s Eurovision undermines the very idea of the competition, writes the Ukrainian broadcaster. The exclusion of Russia from this large-scale music event will be a powerful response by the international community of public broadcasters to the unacceptable aggressive and illegal actions of the Russian Federation and support for the hostile aggression policy of the country’s public broadcasters. . »
At the beginning of February, the singer Alina Pash had been appointed during a telecrochet to represent Ukraine at Eurovision, in Turin (Italy), in May. However, a few hours after his victory, a controversy erupted around one of his trips, in 2015, in Crimea, Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia a year earlier. Faced with the controversy, Alina Pash had admitted having presented to the Ukrainian channel a document falsified by a member of her team and immediately announced its withdrawal. The Kalush Orchestra group agreed on Wednesday to defend, in place of the fallen artist, the Ukrainian colors at Eurovision.