The Belarusian Foundation for Cultural Solidarity has started a campaign to have the state broadcaster of Belarus removed from the European Broadcasting Union.
The European Broadcasting Union has today received a letter from the Belarusian Foundation for Cultural Solidarity, urging the union to remove the Belarusian broadcaster BTRC from its membership. Sergey Budkin the head of the foundation is calling on the EBU to:
- Remove Belarus from the Eurovision Song Contest 2021
- Remove its rights to broadcast the contest
- End the membership of BTRC in the European Broadcasting Union
The Belarusian Foundation for Cultural Solidarity was formed in the midst of an ongoing political crisis within Belarus, which has seen public protests against Alexander Lukashenko following a disputed national election. The Head of the Belarusian broadcaster is currently on a European Union sanctioned persons listed for involvement in the disputed election and subsequent crackdown.
A social media hashtag #stopbt has been launched by the organisation and has asked people to contact the EBU on social media and email demanding that BTRC is removed from the contest. The group hopes that change will be taken before the Heads of Delegation meeting at the start of March.
Earlier this week Belarus was stripped of its right to host the IIHF Men’s World Championships in Belarus. The right to host was removed following statements from sponsors threatening to withdraw from the event.
Image Source: Mediasat | Source: Telegraf.by
Belarus debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 and has made it to the final on five occasions. Belarus’ best result in the contest came in 2007 when Dmitry Koldun finished 6th in the final with a total of 145 points. In total Belarus has qualified for the Eurovision final six times in sixteen attempts.
Does that mean the Eurovision family of events could lose Belarus forever? 🙁