SVT, the Swedish national broadcaster, has released a statement regarding the Eurovision voting rules ratification by all the Nordic countries.
SVT (Sweden), NRK (Norway), RUV (Iceland), YLE (Finland) and DR (Denmark), hence all the Nordic national broadcasters, voted in favour of the new EBU’s Eurovision voting rules and proposals at yesterday’s EBU’s General Assembly in Geneva.
SVT’s statement reads:
Earlier today, the EBU’s 68 member companies voted on several tightening of the rules for voting in Eurovision. The companies also took a stand on improvements in the working conditions for participants and staff. All EBU member companies that meet the criteria for membership and follow the competition rules are allowed to compete. During the meeting, there was no vote on the participation of the Israeli KAN.
All Nordic public service broadcasters, NRK in Norway, YLE in Finland, DR in Denmark and RUV in Iceland voted in favour of the proposals, which were supported by a majority of the EBU’s members. The new rules mean, among other things, that governments are forced to refrain from campaigns, fewer votes per participant and that professional jury groups are once again introduced in the semi-finals. Technical security is also strengthened to avoid vote fraud. This – together with the result of the vote – is in line with the conditions that SVT has set for participating in Eurovision: A broad European support and a competition that is as apolitical as possible. We also believe that security is taken very seriously by the EBU as well as the Austrian channel ORF. Therefore, SVT will participate in Eurovision next year.
At the same time, it is important to have an ongoing dialogue within the EBU on how the competition can be further developed, which means that the new rules should be evaluated after the competition in May.
Anne Lagercrantz, CEO of SVT
Eva Beckman, program director SVT
Michael Österlund, head of program division at SVT
