Of course, Putin should not be allowed to sing and dance – work

The Swedish Melodifestivalen competition is currently underway with the aim of producing the Swedish contribution to the Eurovision Final to be held in May in Turin, Italy.

At the same time, a few hundred miles from the border of Sweden, Russia invaded Ukraine in violation of international law and Ukraine’s right to self-determination.

In addition to the new sanctions that the United States and the European Union have begun to impose on Russia, other provinces are also emerging.

Sweden withdrew from the Bandy World Cup in Sivivka, Russia, the Champions League final was moved from Saint Petersburg to Paris, the Swedish Ski Association announces that it is boycotting all ski competitions in Russia and the Swedish Football Association says it does not intend to. To play a possible playoff for the Men’s Cup in Russia.

ESC is a public relations machine for scammers

However, Russia will certainly be allowed to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, ESC. This is set by the European Broadcasting Union’s regulator, EBU. One should not be surprised. Eurovision has been arranged in the dictatorship of Azerbaijan and that the EBU had difficulty deciding which country to count the telephone votes of Crimea says it all about the type of organization.

“The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political cultural event that unites countries and celebrates differences through music,” the European Broadcasting Union said in a statement.

It is qualified nonsense. When a European country attacks another, it is impossible to distinguish between politics and stunts. All authoritarian regimes attach great importance to cultural success because it gives the regime both legitimacy and prestige. Example: Spain’s fascist dictatorship intentionally used the country’s gains in the Economic and Social Council in 1968 and 1969 as propaganda for its corrupt social system.

I refuse to go there, SVT

So it still is. The Economic and Social Council is a giant public relations machine used by authoritarian states and militias to try to improve its reputation. Scholars Yana Mirzon and Dmitriy Previn write about how the post-Soviet Russian system used Eurovision to restore the country’s image and status as a great power.

Annual music competitions became an arena for Russia to demonstrate the cultural, political and economic values ​​it represented after the collapse of communism. Thus, Russia’s finally winning and having to arrange an Economic and Social Council (ESC) was a feather in the hood. That year, 2009, the EBU did not allow Georgia – which had just fought against Russia – to compete because its contribution was deemed “too political”.

Perhaps one cannot hope that the EBU will freeze Russia. The organization is too morally distorted for that. But if Russia is allowed to come to Turin, Sweden should Do like Finland – refuse to go there.