The EBU has suspended the three Russian member broadcasters : RTR, Channel One and Radio Dom Ostankino.

It is highly unlikely to see Russia compete at the Eurovision Song Contest in the forseeable future as it is no more a member of the EBU as its Executive Borad has decided to suspend all three Russian broadcasters indefinitely.

Georgian national broadcaster, GPB, released the following press release regarding this issue:

The Executive Board of the European Broadcasting Union has suspended the membership of Russian broadcasters for an indefinite period. The relevant decision was made unanimously by the Executive Board at its meeting on May 26.

Membership was suspended for three Russian broadcasters -RTR, Channel One and Radio Dom Ostankino. The suspension of membership for these media organizations was initiated by the Executive Board at a meeting on April 7.

The decision enters into force immediately and its term will be subject to review. In making its decision, the Executive Board took into account that all three members have the right to appeal the decision of the Council in accordance with the Statute of the European Broadcasting Union, although the suspension of membership will remain in force until the decision on appeal.

The EBU’s official website does not feature the Russian broadcasters in its members list anymore. There are now 68 active members in the EBU representing 112 organizations and 56 countries whilst there are 31 associate members in 20 countries.

Russia at Eurovision

Russia joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 and has won the event once in 2008. The following year Moscow welcome the Eurovision bandwagon for the very first time. The country has partaken in the competition 23 times.

Source: GPB
Photo credit: EBU