MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russia had grounds to worry about the safety of Russia’s representative to the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, adding that no decisions not to attend had been made.
"Of course, given the venue of the contest and possible problems with security as well as with unfriendly attitude [to Russians], we clearly have certain reasons for concern," the spokesman told journalists. "As far as we know, there have been no decisions [on Russian representative’s not going]," he noted.
Appeals to boycott the European song contest that will be held this year in Kiev are spreading in Russia. The deputy chairman of the State Duma’s committee for culture, People’s Artist of the USSR, Iosif Kobzon, has joined these appeals.
"The Kremlin has no stance on the issue of a possible boycott, it is not absolutely clear whether it [the contest] must be boycotted," Peskov said.
The Eurovision Song Contest has been held annually since 1956, and each country member of the European Broadcasting Union sends its representative. Under tradition, the country whose singer has won the previous contest, hosts the next one.