The European Commission criticizes Eurovision. “Who benefits from the ban on raising the flag?”

The European Broadcasting Union, or EBU, the organizer, is particularly heavily criticized this year. The competition in Malmo, which was supposed to be a celebration of music, divided spectators and countries into two opposing camps. Admitting Israel to Eurovision antagonized some of the participants against the Israeli delegation and also sparked protests during the competition week. The EBU opened an additional front by banning any flags except national flags and the so-called “pride”, related to the LGBT community, in the concert hall in Malmo.

The European Commission criticizes Eurovision

The EBU was criticized on social media and in an interview with “Politico” by the Vice-President of the European Commission. Margaritis Schinas first posted an entry on Twitter in which he informed that people who wanted to carry European Union flags were not allowed to the concert in Malmo. He commented on this fact in the following words:

Eurovision is, above all, a celebration of the European spirit, our European diversity and talent. The European Union flag is a symbol of this. There will be elections to the European Parliament in a month, there should be no objections, big or small, to what unites all Europeans, he wrote on Twitter.

He deepened his statement in an interview for “Politico”. He warned that the ban on flying European Union flags on the eve of the elections, which may change Europe’s course to favor, for example, Russia, is a mistake. “It only helps Europe’s enemies, I can’t find any logical explanation why the EBU does it. And who does it benefit,” he asked rhetorically.

To the semi-final, final and rehearsal concerts, spectators could only bring national flags, but not all of them – not only the flag of the European Union, but also the flag of Palestine were not allowed. Not only spectators were subject to restrictions. The organizers strictly warned the competition participants to refrain from making political declarations. This year’s number one topic, completely obscured by Eurovision censorship, was Israel’s war with Palestine. Some participants chose very discreet signs of support for the Palestinians – the Italian wore a black dress for the final competition, which, together with the colors of the Italian flag, formed the Palestinian flag.

The representatives of Ireland had “cease fire” written on their faces in Ogami script, and among the audience there were earrings in the shape of a watermelon (a symbol of Palestine where its flag cannot be shown – a watermelon in green, white, red and black corresponds to colors of the Palestinian flag), the Portuguese painted her nails in the patterns of the Palestinian keffiyah.

Blocking the flags of Palestine and, as it turns out, the European Union, was intended to remove politics from the competition and focus solely on artistic issues. We managed to achieve an effect completely opposite to the intended one – this year’s Eurovision became one of the most politicized in recent years, accompanied by protests.