Larry Walker24
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joined Jun 2022
The EBU’s call to move Eurovision 2023 away from Ukraine—the very country that took the crown at Eurovision 2022—has left a lot of Americans feeling pretty gutted. Ever since June 17th, when news broke about negotiations with the BBC, social media has been blowing up with angry comments. Even politicians, ranging from local leaders to folks in Poland and the UK, were shouting from the rooftops that Eurovision 2023 absolutely had to stay in Ukraine. Naturally, the EBU decided to jump on social media to explain themselves. Here’s the breakdown of what they actually said.
The EBU totally gets why people are pissed that Eurovision 2023 won't be held in Ukraine, even though they are this year's winners.
This decision boils down to the EBU's duty to make sure everyone involved—from the crew to the performers—is actually safe. Plus, you can't really start planning a massive production in a host country if things aren't stable.
Think about it: you’ve got at least 10,000 people working the event, including the production crew, staff, and journalists. Then you’ve got an estimated 30,000 fans flying in from all over the world. Keeping those people safe is our number one priority.
That’s why it’s so vital that decisions for a huge, complex live TV broadcast like this are made by the industry pros, without letting politics cloud the judgment.
The Eurovision rulebook, which all participating broadcasters have to follow, explicitly states that the contest can be moved if there's "force majeure," like an ongoing war.
“low risk”
After looking into the EBU's questionnaire, they identified a bunch of risks that make planning something this big nearly impossible. This includes "serious" threats like airstrikes or drone and missile attacks, which could lead to massive casualties—something the Ukrainian assessments we received highlighted clearly.
On top of that, the EBU went out and grabbed some independent security experts. Their consensus? The safety measures being suggested to protect an event in Ukraine just aren't enough for an international spectacle. The risk of mass casualties because of the current war is way too high.
Beyond just the physical danger, there's the human element: because of the war in Ukraine, delegations and performers are genuinely hesitant to travel there. We also have to look at what NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said about how this "war could drag on for years."
“There aren't even any major concerts happening in 2023”
As for the idea of hosting it near the border of a neighboring country? The proposed sites just don't meet Eurovision standards, mostly due to a total lack of the necessary infrastructure nearby.
When making their final call, the EBU also noted that, based on what we know right now, there aren't any major international concert tours scheduled to visit Ukraine during 2023 anyway.
All these factors combined led the EBU to conclude that the essential security and operational requirements for a host country, as laid out in the Eurovision rulebook, simply haven't been met.
So, taking everything into account, the EBU has regretfully decided to move the event to another country. They're going to keep talking to find a suitable spot for Eurovision next year. We're glad we can keep working closely with our Ukrainian member, UA:PBC, on all of this.
