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The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced late Friday that “unfortunately, Belarus will not participate” in the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in May, although it has submitted new work to the competition.
“It is concluded that the new application also does not comply with the competition rules, which ensure that the competition is not used for its own purposes or discredited,” said the announcement on the EBU website. The decision is not discussed in detail.
The group Halasy ZMesta with the song “Ja nauču tebia” (I will teach you) had to represent Belarus in the competition. His words, such as “I will teach you to dance with a bagpipe”, outraged the Belarusian opposition.
In Belarus, political unrest has continued since the August 9 presidential elections, announced by Aliaksandr Lukashenko. The opposition and western countries consider that these elections are rigged.
Thousands of people were detained in an attempt by the authorities to quell the mass protests that followed the elections. Several protesters died and hundreds were sentenced to long prison terms.
Western states have refused to recognize Belarus’ election results and the European Union has imposed sanctions on Lukashenko and his comrades.
Halasy ZMesta’s second song for Eurovision was more subtle, but the group’s leader told RIA Novost on Saturday morning that the meaning of the song’s words about the rabbit, the chickens, and the fox was “very obvious.” .
Before that, the Belarusian state broadcaster harshly criticized the decision of the Eurovision organizers.
“Europe is afraid to put a song about rabbits on stage, it is a final and total pity,” the station wrote on the social network Telegram on Friday night.
According to RIA Novosti, Ivan Eismont, head of the Eurovision national selection committee, said that “the decision to disqualify us is politically motivated.”
“We know what the European Union loves,” he said.
The final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 is scheduled for May 22. Efforts are being made to ensure that as many artists as possible can perform live there.
Last year, the annual song contest, which drew millions of viewers across Europe and other continents, including remote Australia, was postponed due to a coronavirus pandemic.
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