Ukraine disagrees with the decision of the European Broadcasting Union to move the Eurovision 2023 to UK, citing the ongoing war.
Ukraine says it will “demand that the decision be revisited.”
In a Facebook statement, Culture and Information Policy minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said Kyiv “believes that it has grounds for conducting further talks on finding a solution that will satisfy all… We believe that we can fulfil all the commitments.”
Ukrainian rap-folk band Kalush Orchestra won last month’s Eurovision in Turin – securing the right to host the 2023 event in their home nation.
EBU said earlier today that next year’s Eurovision Song Contest will “potentially” be held in UK, after ruling out the possibility of the competition being hosted by Ukraine.
Ukraine’s entry this year found favor with the public and won the competition, but the EBU has said the security and operational requirements to host it in 2023 cannot currently be fulfilled by Ukraine’s public broadcaster UA:PBC, due to the ongoing war.
In a statement, the EBU said: “The EBU has been exploring options for the hosting of next year’s competition with Ukraine’s public broadcaster UA:PBC, who previously staged the event in 2017 and 2005.
“Given the ongoing war in this year’s winning country, the EBU has taken the time to conduct a full assessment and feasibility study with both UA:PBC and third-party specialists including on safety and security issues.”
