The European Commission’s Vice President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, is livid over the reported ban against fans waving the flag of the European Union during the Eurovision 2024 competition, and is demanding answers from the organizers about the decision.
The Eurovision 2024 song contest is over, but the political controversy that engulfed this year’s competition continues, with the organizers of the contest, called the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), taking center stage.
The EBU said the point of the ban was to avoid fueling the already heightened geopolitical tensions around the event, according to widespread press reports on the issue.
Yet in other media reports, the EBU says that their policy over which flags could be carried at Eurovision 2024 was no different than that of Eurovision 2023, where EU flags clearly appear in various images.
Commenting on the issue to Politico, Schinas called the ban “mindblowing” and said it was a gift to the “enemies of Europe” and the Euroskeptics ahead of the upcoming European elections.
Meanwhile other Commission officials and their spokespersons have chimed in, calling the ban “regrettable”.
Schinas told Politico he would contact the EBU and indeed did so on Monday May 13 via an official letter to the broadcasters, according to reports at AMNA.
Schinas is a Greek politician and former civil servant originating from Thessaloniki, Greece, who has been serving as a VP of the Commission since 2019.
