SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 29 March 2024, Friday |

Ukraine can and should host next Eurovision Song Contest, UK’s Johnson says

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remarked on Saturday that Ukraine can and should host it, after organizers indicated they were in talks to conduct the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Britain instead owing to the fighting.

While history dictates that the winner of the competition hosts it the following year, organizers announced that due to the security guarantees required to stage the championship in Ukraine, talks with the runner-up, Britain, will be held.

“Of course I would love it to be in this country but the fact is they won and they deserve to have it and I believe they can have it and I believe that they should have it,” Johnson told reporters on arrival back in Britain after a visit to Kyiv.

“I believe that Kyiv or any other safe Ukrainian city would be a fantastic place to have it,” he added. “It is a year away, it is going to be fine by the time the Eurovision Song Contest comes round and I hope the Ukrainians get it.”

The comments by organiser the European Broadcasting Union on Friday that it was in discussions with British broadcaster the BBC to host the next event was greeted with disappointment in Kyiv, which demanded further negotiations.

    Source:
  • Reuters