Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on June 18 that Ukraine can and should host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest after the organizers of the popular Continent-wide music competition said they were looking to hold it in Britain instead due to the war, to Kyiv's disappointment.
Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra last month won the competition that draws hundreds of millions of viewers throughout the world, and according to tradition, Kyiv should host next year's competition.
But the organizers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), said on June 17 that given the current circumstances in war-torn Ukraine "the security and operational guarantees required for a broadcaster to host, organize, and produce the Eurovision Song Contest...cannot be fulfilled" in Ukraine.
Therefore, the EBU said, discussions would be held with the runner up, Britain, to organize the contest.
"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."
Ukraine has condemned the EBU's move, with Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko saying Kyiv wants the decision reversed.
"We will demand to change this decision, because we believe that we will be able to fulfil all the commitments...We demand additional negotiations on hosting Eurovision-2023 in Ukraine," Tkachenko said in a statement on June 22.
