Italy is the winner of Eurovision 2021 1:12
(CNN Spanish) -
Russia will not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, as announced by the organizers through a statement.
“The executive committee of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) made the decision following a recommendation from the organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest, the Reference Group, under the rules of the event and the values of the EBU” , according to a statement released on the official Twitter account of EBU and the Eurovision contest.
Statement from @EBU_HQ regarding Russia's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.https://t.co/HmKJdqVE4J pic.twitter.com/tVH6yFxzbq
– Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) February 25, 2022
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The announcement comes a day after organizers said Russia could take part in the iconic music festival despite an invasion of Ukraine.
Eurovision told CNN in a statement that the festival is "an apolitical cultural event" and that "the EBU was concerned about the events in Ukraine and would closely monitor the situation."
The European Broadcasting Union added in the statement that the decision was made to cancel Russia's participation "in the wake of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine."
The organization emphasized that it is apolitical and that they are committed to upholding the values of public service.
Ukraine's representation at Eurovision 2022
This year, the Eurovision Song Contest will take place in the Italian city of Turin.
Until this Friday, Russia had not chosen a participant for the event.
The name of this country does not appear in the list of participating countries either.
This Tuesday Ukraine announced that the rap group Kalush Orchestra would represent the country with the song "Stephania".
In a message of thanks for the election, broadcast by Eurovision on its website, Oleh Psiuk, vocalist of the group, thanked the Ukrainians for the trust placed in the band and said that "in the difficult times that the country is going through, we will do our presence felt globally.
We are ready to represent Ukraine before the whole of Europe.”
In their Instagram
stories
, the group spoke out Thursday night against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
With an image showing bombings in Kyiv, the band said: "Dear Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron, Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, please ban Russia from SWIFT, close the skies, send NATO to Ukraine."
With information from CNN's Sandra González
EurovisionZone Pop Music