That Russia, despite the invasion of Ukraine, is welcomed to the Eurovision song contest in May has not met without resistance.

And several voices critical of the decision have now been raised.

On Thursday, the EBU announced that the event is apolitical and does not take a position on the current situation.

As a result of the statement, SVT's CEO Hanna Stjärne called on the organizer to rethink its decision, as she believes that the situation in Europe is very serious.

Latvia's contribution appeals to the EBU

Participants in the competition have also made proposals against the EBU's decision.

Latvia's contribution, the group Citi Zēni with the song Eat your salad, took to their twitter page on Thursday, where they in an open letter appeal to both the organizer and other artists to act.

- The situation is serious and sending this letter is the right thing to do, we have discussed it within the band for a long time and if we lived in Ukraine we would have liked to see a message like this, says band member Jānis Pētersons to Kulturnyheterna.

Will you withdraw from the competition if the decision is not changed?

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It is difficult to say now, we will follow the development of events and then make that decision in cooperation with the people of Latvia, who chose us for the competition, and the channel that broadcasts the programs.

Danish radio: "Russia is going out"

Denmark's radio, DR, has also spoken out and agrees with the chorus of criticism, says Gustav Lützhøft, editor-in-chief of DR, for the Danish evening newspaper Ekstra bladet.

He emphasizes the seriousness of the situation and believes that DR maintains an ongoing dialogue with the EBU.

- As the situation is now, we at DR think that it is wrong to let Russia participate and we communicate that to the organizer EBU, says Lützhøft to Ekstra bladet.

SVT Kulturnyheterna is looking for the EBU to hear how they view the calls to abolish Russian participation in the ESC.