Eurovision | The Eurovision organizer has been told about the Finnish musicians' stance on Israel, says Ylen Ville Vilén

Public radio has told the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the Eurovision Song Contest, that Finland opposes Israel's participation in the song contest.

Yle's director of creative content and media tells HS about this Ville Vilén.

“We have informed the EBU that there has been feedback on the subject and the artists have made a petition. They should know what kind of opinions are circulating in which country,” says Vilén.

“I understand that there is a similar situation in Iceland and Norway, not so much elsewhere, at least at the moment.”

HS said in December that in Iceland and Ireland Eurovisa boycotts have been called for.

Finnish musicians' petition to remove Israel from Eurovision has gathered momentum in recent days attention even abroad. In the petition, Yle is required to put pressure on the EBU to exclude Israel from Eurovision and to boycott the competition, if Israel is allowed to participate.

According to Vilén, the authors of the petition contacted Yle and asked to deliver the petition to them face to face. The meeting has been arranged for next Tuesday.

“There is freedom of expression in Finland, and that is a great thing. It is completely understandable that this arouses strong emotions in people.”

Eventually The fate of Israel will be decided by the EBU, but Yle and the broadcasting companies of other Nordic countries plan to discuss the development of the situation with the EBU, Vilén says.

“Closer to the race, the situation must be reassessed. This is not a clear-cut matter.”

Now at Yle, the focus is on the New Music competition, where Finland's Eurovision representative is selected. The UMK final will be held on February 10 and the Eurovision Song Contest in May.

“The Eurovision is further away, all kinds of things can still happen here before then,” Vilén says.

UMK contestants' own opinions and comments about the Gaza war and the possible Eurovisa boycott are completely allowed, Vilén emphasizes.

For example UMK competitor Jesse Mark's said In an interview with HSthat he won't necessarily go to Eurovision if he wins UMK.

“We're not going to limit their opinions,” Vilén says.

“If the UMK winner does not want to go to Eurovision, we have plans for that and we are going to discuss the matter. But that's the sadness of that time.”

In December, the EBU told the British for the Sky News news channelthat Israel is allowed to participate in Eurovision.

“Eurovision is a competition of public broadcasters – not governments – and Israel's public broadcaster has participated in the competition for more than 50 years,” the EBU's response stated.

The EBU also announced that the Israeli broadcaster Kan meets all the requirements for a participant.

HS asked Kan to comment on the resistance experienced by Israel.

“Unfortunately, we do not wish to comment on the matter at this time,” Kan's representative responded via email earlier this week.