Ukraine will not be able to host the next edition of Eurovision as is the tradition of the European contest. Coming in second place, Great Britain volunteered to host the competition.
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Ukraine, which won Eurovision, will not be able to host next year’s contest, the European Broadcasting Union announced on Friday (June 17th). “Under the current circumstances, the security and operational guarantees necessary to host, organize and produce Eurovision (…) cannot be fulfilled” by Ukraine,” the EBU said in a statement. The body will therefore “enter into discussions with the BBC, whose competitor came in second place, to potentially host the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in the UK”the statement added.
The country of the group or artist who won the Eurovision Song Contest should normally organize the competition the following year. The Kalush Orchestra of Ukraine, whose song Stefania mixes hip-hop and traditional music, won the competition in Italy on May 15, ahead of the United Kingdom and Spain, thanks to the vote of viewers who voted for the group representing the country invaded at the end of February by Russian troops.
The EBU, however, stressed that it had “the firm intention that the victory of Ukraine will be reflected in the shows of the next yearBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the move, according to his spokesperson. “We would, of course, be happy to be able to work closely with Ukraine and the BBC to bring him here to the UK”, said the spokesperson. He added that the UK “would undertake to ensure” that the competition “largely reflects the rich culture, heritage and creativity of Ukraine”.
“Ukraine does not agree with the nature of the decision taken by the European Broadcasting Union”Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkatchenko said in a statement. “We demand additional negotiations on the hosting of Eurovision-2023 in Ukraine”.
“We will demand to change this decision, because we believe that we can keep all the commitments we have made”added the Minister. He assures us that his country had so far “fulfills all the conditions” and “provided answers and guarantees on safety standards” with a view to organizing the next edition of the competition.