Yesterday we learned that Spain definitely won’t host Eurovision 2023 and that the U.K. is, according to Spain’s TV boss, the first alternative if Ukraine pulls out.
But today Ukraine’s state broadcaster has dropped a fresh press release that makes it clear it still has every intention to host. We are reprinting their press statement in full below.
Ukraine: UA:PBC submits Eurovision 2023 security questionnaire to the EBU
UA:PBC statement in full
On 14 June the Official Kick-off Meeting of the organizers from Ukraine with the Reference Group, partners of the Eurovision Song Contest and the core team from the EBU. At this meeting the contest representatives and the EBU considered the presentation of guarantees and preparatory measures, in particular the security questionnaire, potential locations for the contest hosting prepared by the team of UA: PBC together with the government of Ukraine.
“All safety and security related measures have to be prepared and implemented in close cooperation with the national authorities. So we held consultations with the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (National Police, State Emergency Service, National Guard) and the Ministry of Defense. Their experts together with security and risk assessment units of UA: PBC prepared common vision of the security situation and measures to be taken for the hosting of Eurovision next year. We thank the state authorities for their involvement and prompt preparation,” said Head of the Managing Board of UA: PBC Mykola Chernotytskyi.
The working group of UA: PBC together with state and local authorities are considering several options of hosting the event in three different regions of Ukraine.
“Yesterday we submitted a presentation of the questionnaire for the hosting of Eurovision in Ukraine to the European Broadcasting Union. Within a very short timeframe, the governmental team managed to provide thorough and comprehensive answers. Everybody worked in a very efficient and coordinated manner – from the public broadcaster and security authorities to the Prime Minister who assured with a letter that all the obligations that we have assumed will be fulfilled. We gave detailed answers regarding security questions and other organisation nuances, proposed several venues. I believe that we should have exhaustive, clear and honest answers to questions – that is what we did. We understand that in the current circumstances both we and the EBU face a challenge of organising Eurovision in Ukraine. But we have accepted this challenge and, I am sure, we will surprise everyone,” said Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko.
In addition, on 10 June the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine established the Organizational Committee for preparation and execution of the Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine in 2023.
As a reminder, after the victory of “Kalush Orchestra” at Eurovision 2022 in Turin Ukraine gained the right to host the Song Contest next year. UA: PBC as a member of the European Broadcasting Union ensures the selection and participation of a representative of Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest, is an official broadcaster of the contest, and organizes the contest the following year in case of Ukraine’s victory.
NO! if they hosted somehow it will be used as a propaganda outlet, and it will further solid th claim about eurovision being only political.
Want Eurovision to be hosted safely ? Tell your goverments to send as many weapons as possible NOW. They can end this war, they only lack weapons
oh I see the first fandom meltdown for the next season has already begun LOL
Anything being built for hosting would be nuked by Russia. They should rather host it in Poland with Ukraine’s team working with the Polish one. Most likely scenerio will still be UK hosting with Graham Norton.
I fully support Ukraine during this time. However, I cannot support them hosting the contest next year. It’s not right to have 13 million citizens classified as refugees, whilst hosting such a large entertainment event. Please look after your people and your infrastructure first.
i’m sorry but are they out are their minds ?? I understand that they really want to do this but there is a WAR what are they thinking about gosh…
What was Europe thinking about when they voted for them? Putin hasnt stopped the war and Ukraine is still destroyer by bombs. How stupid was the audience to think it would do Ukraine a favor to win?
History tells us that winning doesn’t necessarily mean hosting the following edition. What’s your suggestion? Only vote for those countries who are able to host?
Sorry San Marino and Iceland, Jacob just effectively prohibited you from ever winning.
Dear fellow Europeans, you voted out of pity for Ukraine. Now watch and feel sorry for what you did. First selling a trophy to buy weapons (instead of helping millions of refugees who lost their homes and had to leave Ukraine), now insisting to spend millions (with foreign help I’m sure, since they couldn’t even afford the 2017 contest), instead of, once again, helping their people and start renovating their country (for which they expect other richer countries to help and give money). On top of everything, they want to put in risk thousands of people from other countries. I… Read more »
Another political eurovision awaits us. And guess what… Ukraine will probably win the eurovision next year again!
That would be iconic. We haven’t had a back-to-back winning country in awhile now.
Yes, quite a few people have said it’s very possible the scenario at the contest for the next few years is Ukraine winning with massive televote scores. Which would be terrible for the contest, as it’ll give ammunition to all the “it’s all political” moaners, and let’s face it, no other country is going to bother making an effort if it’s a done deal that Ukraine will win.
And probably no one will want or be keen to hear anything about Ukraine anymore once the war’s over.
Well many Ukrainians have fled their country because of the war and have migrated to other European countries. Many of those Ukrainianians that migrated are now able to vote for their country Ukraine since they are not living in Ukraine anymore. This is why we saw Ukraine win the televote by such big margin. In case you didn’t know!
If you’re going to ignore next year’s contest, shouldn’t you have started already? What do you think this article is about?
I’m glad you already know whom Europe will vote for in 11 months. Do you have some advice for the next Euro Jackpot as well?
No, not the slightest bit. I saw it coming ever since Kalush Orchestra’s participation was confirmed once and for all. But there’s no way televoters will overwhelmingly vote for Ukraine again in 2023. Or at least not out of pity. People simply aren’t like that. Instead, they’ll rather be like ‘been there, done that’. You can already tell from the decreasing donations for Ukraine. And as sad as it is: in 11 months from now, the majority will have grown tired of hearing and reading about Ukraine. Just like they have grown tired of hearing and reading about the pandemic.… Read more »
Lots of tweets (as expected) responding to this with “it’s Ukraine’s right to host! Let them try!” or “Eurofans are just p*ssed about Ukraine hosting because it won’t be a party and they won’t be able to attend” or “Ukraine needs to host at such a dark time.”
My response to this is simple:
The EBU cannot ask singers to go to a warzone to compete. It’s that simple.
I wonder if we could end up with a live on tape situation for 2023?
I also heard that Kira Rudik also called for Eurovision 2023 to be held in Ukraine. Do you think it’s safe? I think that no, it would be better if Ukraine did not spend money on the competition, but only on restoration
But hypothetically speaking hosting Eurovision should help boost their economy so if they do end up hosting I’d say they are thinking of that and keeping Ukraine in the media and sharing the culture.
Let’s just give the situation some time to develop itself. In the near future we’ll simply find out whether Ukraine can host or not. We don’t know what lies ahead of us, and we shouldn’t let speculations cloud our minds too much. Anything can happen
But we can’t wait too long. We can’t say “well, let’s see what the situation is in September” because by then it’ll be too late for another broadcaster to take over. So even if Ukraine is set on hosting, and the EBU wants to be supportive by going along with it, the EBU has to be taking steps with another broadcaster and developing a Plan B. And soon.
I knew this would happen. They’re going to be fighting to host and causing trouble. They could barely host last time and there was no war!
I am strongly supporting Ukraine for their fight in this. Hosting is their right, not UK’s or Spain’s. If those two want to host that bad then they should win it. Taking advantage of the situation in a country at war to want to host is kinda pathetic.
UK and Spain are much safer places as of now. You wouldn’t hold Eurovision in Gotham City during The Dark Knight Rises siege of Bane, right? I understand the need of UA:PBC to show that they are technically capable, but once logistics are put over sentiments, the lives of those involved should be the biggest priority.
Just yesterday President of France, Prime Minister of Germany and Prime Minister of Italy all together went to Kyiv with a TRAIN for god’s sake. Yes, at eastern part of the country, there is an ongoing war but that zone is in war for almost a decade now. Kyiv and rest of the country, especially the western part is pretty much safe. At least as safe as Tel Aviv if you want to compare countries as always..
I know that Kyiv and Lviv are much safer than the East of the country. I hope that it remains so. However, occasional shelling unfortunately do happen, and it would’ve been terrible if it happened during ESC in the arena. While foreign politicians travelling to the West of Ukraine is a great sign, I’d still say that it’s easier to watch intel on a couple of people than on a whole venue, filled with thousands, each with their own equipment. Sure, IF ESC indeed happens in Kyiv / Lviv, and it goes well, I’ll be very happy. However, at this… Read more »
Yes, and while they were in Kiev, Putin surprised them with a little air raid alert. Just like he did a few weeks ago, when someone from Brussels visited.
Everyone here should relax and mind their own business. You are not the Ukrainian broadcaster or the Ebu, so let the people involved do their job and stop complaining. Ebu and Ukraine are well aware of the situation and they will never put anyone at risk if there are risks let them do their job they are so much better qualified than all of you and they are not unconscious… so be patient, remember last year we had the host city very very late so there is still plenty of time. To wait during this summer there will be Eurovision… Read more »
This is awesome. Keep fighting for your right to host, Ukraine! We support you!
The Eurovision channel on Youtube has released live-on-tape performances of this year’s entrants and they all look great! Maybe this is a precursor of what next year’s Eurovision will be. I have no objections.
I do, as do many others. Why the hell should Eurovision be downgraded just to spare Ukraine’s national ego?
Based on this year’s viewing figures, Eurovision did a pretty good job downgrading itself…
And that’s why it has to go even lower?
It would be great if we had another ESC hosted in Ukraine, but not during the time of such instability. In case you missed it, the war is still going there.
They are acting as if a war is not happening. Regardless of whether a war is happening or not, they should not host for moral reasons, but also the country has potentially many bombs and explosives and fallen debris in its cities that could be dangerous if the war wasn’t going on but it is anyway and will for the next year. I don’t see it ending anytime soon. It’s waaaay too dangerous to send delegations and insurance is a thing too.
I don’t get why Ukraine keeps insisting when it’s obvious they’re unable to host. EBU should stop this delusion already
Don’t you have a fumbling economy to manage, Putin?
“Anyone who disagrees with me is a Russian puppet”, embarrassing
Not wanting Ukraine to win at the time and now being realistic doesn’t mean I support P*tin, be real!
Fans need to chill. Both EBU and Suspilne are aware of the situation and I’m pretty sure that plans are being made for the possibility of having to host the contest elsewhere. At the same time, the host city doesn’t need to be locked until some time in August and with the developments in Ukraine being highly dynamic, it’s a good idea to also keep evaluating “Plan A” on an ongoing basis. There’s no need to make the decision today, but it’s a good idea to keep planning for all outcomes. Let’s hope for the best, I would be very… Read more »
For Real. This is just like what happened in 2021 with the scenarios for hosting Eurovision in a safe manner due to COVID and planning for any of the 4 scenarios to happen. In this case, Ukraine hosting is the Plan A and under ideal conditions it would be chosen, but of course plan B is the UK in case plan A doesn’t work to plan. There’s still around 2 months for things to change and evaluate if Eurovision can safely be held in Ukraine or not, and as you said THE HOST CITY DOES NOT NEED TO BE LOCKED… Read more »
Oh Ukraine, I do love you, I always have and always will. Long before this war you were my favourite country in ESC. But hosting in 2023, really? I can’t see it I must say. Maybe add a clause to the 2023 rules, before anyone has officially entered stating the 2023 winner WON’T have the automatic right to host 2024, as they will give it to Ukraine. I believe this happened in JESC when it was announced Belarus would host the following year regardless of outcome. By adding the clause before any confirmed participations, no one can say they were… Read more »
Does anyone actually think that there is any place in Ukraine that could safely host? This war isn’t going away any time soon and Eurovision being hosted in Ukraine would be the biggest hot spot to attack. It is not safe for singers, fans, staff, delegations, techies, etc. As soon as it is announced that Ukraine will host Putin will be putting his plans together to make it impossible to happen
Well only safe place in Ukraine could be Lviv,but even that isnt 100% safe.
At this point I am fully convinced that the ukrainian authorities came directly from Delusion Land. EBU, stop this crap right now
I’m happy for Ukraine but sad for Eurovision. It’s not a good thing for a wartorn country to win the competition and hold the contest. I’m actually extremely concerned about this. Even if another country like UK holds the ESC next year it will still be so so so bad for the contest. A wartorn country won the title but Eurovision song contest lost big time because of this. I have nothing against Ukraine, I loved their entry but winning this year was reallybad long-term for Eurovision. Now Måneskin is burdened with having to carry the legitimacy of this contest… Read more »
Whatever those questions were, I highly doubt the answers they gave are fully realistic. They can’t try and sell this image of security while they still cry for help against Russia saying they can’t hold on by themselves. What are they playing at here?
Martin is terrible executive supervisor
We’re just wasting precious time. We could have already started speculations about which city in UK will host ESC and have competition among cities.
And which country is willing to send their citizens in the high risk zone, who’s gonna go?! This is ridiculous.
Let the people who voted for Ukraine just because they were in a war go first. Those 439 points for this song didn’t come from the ghosts
So you’re basically saying people MUSTN’T have voted for Ukraine just because Ukraine can’t host the contest right now?
Maybe this should be a new rule, too? ‘Any country that gets dragged into a war is forbidden to receive any points whatsoever.’?
Ffs, honestly. It’s one thing to be sore because your favourite didn’t win. But maybe you should try thinking for a second before you write s*** like this.
Unless you host it in Mariupol, don’t even think about it.
This is pure pig-headedness at this point and the longer the EBU allow it to go on the more embarassing it gets.
Yawn…..
Please stop. We get that you wanna host – we love and support you but this is an awful idea. Please just let the UK host.
Let UK host Eurovision 2023. But with at least one Ukrainian host and interval acts showing Ukrainian culture. I’m honestly surprised EBU is apparently willing to let Ukraine host. No one knows how Ukraine will be like in May 2023, and even if the war ends before then, it will take years to build up the country again.
The winner hosting the next competition is literally a tradition so the EBU surely wants Ukraine to host to keep it going, but it’s a matter of time until they’ll understand it’s not possible unfortunately
There already were exceptions in the past, so I don’t think the EBU will be too stubborn.
There’s so many better ways to use your money… I get it is a matter of national pride and a symbol of hope and showing that you think the war will be over, but still! How many international people will dare to travel, even though it’s declared ‘safe’?
What’s this insistence.. Your country is in a war , some parts of it was destroyed and still is being destroyed and you still think to host Eurovision like it’s the biggest problem
Please save your money and use it to rebuild your country and use that money for the victims , and let another country to host the show and be a safe place for all the visitors. Please