RUSSIA BARRED FROM EUROVISION AS BROADCASTERS REBEL OVER INVASION

GENEVA, 2022-02-25. — GENEVA, Friday — Russia has been excluded from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest following its invasion of Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union announced today, reversing its position as public broadcasters pressed for action. The decision means that no Russian act will appear at the competition in Turin in May. It turns a mounting argument over the responsibilities of a cultural institution into a concrete sanction against one of Eurovision’s most prominent participating countries. With Russian forces advancing in Ukraine and European governments imposing penalties on Moscow, the organisers have concluded that keeping Russia on the programme would threaten the standing of the contest itself.

The EBU said its executive board had acted on a recommendation made earlier today by Eurovision’s governing Reference Group, supported by the union’s Television Committee. “The decision reflects concern that, in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Contest would bring the competition into disrepute,” its statement said. The union added that it had consulted widely among its membership before reaching the decision. Its announcement concerns participation in the 2022 competition; it does not announce a permanent prohibition on Russian performers or the expulsion of Russia’s broadcasters from the broadcasting union.

The ruling represents a marked change from the position publicly advanced only yesterday, when the EBU described Eurovision as a “non-political cultural event” and indicated that it was planning to welcome entries from both Russia and Ukraine. That distinction proved increasingly difficult to maintain as the invasion unfolded. By today, the question was no longer merely whether organisers could keep political statements away from the stage. Several member broadcasters were challenging whether a Russian entry could be admitted at all without compromising their own participation and the public-service principles under which the broadcasting partnership operates.

Finland’s public broadcaster, Yle, had said it would not send an entry to Turin if Russia were allowed to compete. Its position introduced the prospect that preserving Russia’s place could cost the contest other participants. Broadcasters in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands were also among those pressing for Russia’s exclusion. These interventions came from institutions directly involved in producing and transmitting Eurovision, rather than solely from governments or outside campaigners. The pressure therefore reached the EBU through its own professional constituency, confronting organisers with a dispute inside the network on which the competition depends for performers, programmes and audiences.

Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne, had appealed for stronger measures against Russian broadcasting organisations, arguing that their role in supporting the Kremlin’s conduct was incompatible with the union’s obligations. Its demands extended beyond the allocation of a place in a song competition to the standing of Russian broadcasters themselves. Today’s Eurovision announcement answers the immediate question of whether a Russian act can take part in Turin, but it leaves that broader institutional issue distinct. Ukraine, meanwhile, remains a participating country. Kalush Orchestra has been selected to represent it with “Stefania”, although the invasion has cast profound uncertainty over the ordinary preparations of Ukrainian artists and broadcasters.

In explaining the exclusion, the EBU continued to defend its non-political identity rather than announcing a departure from it. “The EBU is an apolitical member organisation of broadcasters committed to upholding the values of public service,” it said. The statement also reaffirmed its commitment to a competition that “promotes international exchange and understanding” and “unites Europe on one stage”. The language places the decision within the protection of the event and its values. It nevertheless exposes a difficult boundary: an organisation that seeks to bring countries together has judged that, under present circumstances, admitting one country’s entry would damage that purpose rather than advance it.

Russia’s absence will remove a familiar and frequently successful competitor. The country first entered Eurovision in 1994, and Dima Bilan’s victory with “Believe” in 2008 brought the following year’s contest to Moscow. Russian entries have since remained prominent contenders, reaching a vast audience beyond the country’s borders. Ukraine also has a strong Eurovision record, winning through Ruslana in 2004 and Jamala in 2016. Jamala’s song, “1944”, drew on the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Stalin and generated arguments about the contest’s rules against political content. Relations between Russia and Ukraine have consequently tested Eurovision’s claim to stand apart from politics well before this week’s invasion.

The competition itself dates from 1956 and grew out of efforts to develop international television co-operation in post-war Europe. Its institutional foundations are broadcasters, not diplomatic delegations, and participation does not correspond simply to membership of the European Union. That structure gives the EBU authority over the contest while requiring it to preserve confidence among organisations with different national responsibilities and audiences. This year’s event is due to be staged by Italy’s Rai after the Italian band Måneskin won in Rotterdam last May. The semi-finals are scheduled for 10 and 12 May, with the final on 14 May, leaving organisers weeks rather than months to settle the immediate participation arrangements.

Today’s action comes amid a wider retreat from normal sporting and cultural dealings with Russia. UEFA has moved this season’s Champions League final from St Petersburg to the Paris area, while Formula One has said it is impossible to hold the Russian Grand Prix in the present circumstances. Such decisions accompany government sanctions and a sharp deterioration in Russia’s relations with Western countries following the attack ordered by President Vladimir Putin. Eurovision’s exclusion is not a financial sanction, and the EBU has supplied no estimate of its commercial consequences. Its immediate significance lies in access to an international broadcast platform and in the solidarity, or division, of the institutions that sustain it.

The EBU’s decision now gives broadcasters preparing for Turin a clear answer on the Russian entry, removing the immediate condition behind Finland’s threatened withdrawal. It does not settle the wider war-related questions facing European broadcasting, nor can it guarantee how the conflict will affect Ukraine’s participation. No Russian performer had yet been publicly named for this year’s contest, so the exclusion falls on the national entry rather than on an announced individual contestant. For the organisers, the task is now to carry forward a programme presented as a celebration of international understanding while war continues on the continent. Tonight, that programme will proceed without Russia.