Ukraine denounces the decision that deprives it of organizing the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 due to the war

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Ukraine, champion of the Eurovision Song Contest this year, denounced this Friday the decision of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to withdraw the organization of the next edition of the contest for security reasons.

"Ukraine does not agree with the nature of the decision taken by the European Broadcasting Union,"

Culture Minister Oleksander Tkachenko said in a statement.

"We demand new negotiations to host Eurovision-2023 in Ukraine," he added.

The EBU announced on Friday that the country, invaded by Russian troops on February 24, will not be able to receive the contest in 2023 and that it was studying the possibility of holding it in the United Kingdom, whose song came second.

The winner of the festival normally organizes the contest the following year.

"Under the current circumstances, the necessary security guarantees to receive, organize and produce Eurovision ... are not provided in Ukraine," the EBU said in a statement.

For this reason, the body is going to "start talks with the BBC, whose contestant was in second place to see if the United Kingdom can receive the Eurovision Song Contest 2023," the text added.

Kalush Orchestra, from Ukraine, was proclaimed the winner

, ahead of the United Kingdom and Spain, thanks to the vote of the viewers, who wanted to reward the representatives of a country that was invaded at the end of February by Russian troops.

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