The Belarusian Foundation for Cultural Solidarity recently launched a campaign against the Belarusian state broadcaster. The ongoing campaign is calling the European Broadcasting Union to remove the Belarusian broadcaster from the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.
What is the campaign for?
The Foundation recently contacted the EBU urging the organization to remove the country from the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. Specifically, the Foundation has requested that the country is not only removed from the competition, but also have its broadcasting rights and membership from the Union revoked. In a post, the founder of the Foundation, explained that they do not want Eurovision removed from Belarus but rather the broadcaster itself to have no association with the event. He added that they are aiming to prevent BTRC from participating in the upcoming EBU meeting in Rotterdam.
“BT today is not a media broadcaster, but an instrument of political pressure and propaganda”
Sergei Budkin
Sergey Budkin created the Foundation in October 2020 in order to provide support for the Belarusian cultural community. Budkin crated the Foundation amid the political crising following the presidential election of the country.
Major support for the campaign
There has been major support for the campaigh from the public. Specifically, a flash mob in support of the campaign took place. In addition, the campaign has already started taking over social media as well, with people using the hashtag #stopBT.
The Belarusian broadcaster already sparked controversy within the Eurovision community following the decision to not have VAL to return for Eurovision 2021. According to the broadcaster, this was based on the “non conformist” attitudes by VAL towards the Belarusian president.
If the EBU eventually decides on the removal of Belarus, it won’t be the first event to apply restrictions the country. Earlier, the IIHF Council decided that the country would not be hosting the upcoming Ice Hockey World Championship.
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Yes, it would be fair to remove Belarus.