GENEVA, May 28. /TASS/. The executive board of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) which organizes, among other things, the Eurovision song contest, has made a decision to suspend the membership of Belteleradiocompany (BTRC), Belarus’ national state TV and radio company, EBU’s statement published on Friday said.
"At a meeting today, the EBU Executive Board agreed to suspend Belarus Member BTRC," the document noted. The EBU specifies that "BTRC will have two weeks to respond, before suspension comes into effect."
The EBU’s decision was prompted "by the broadcast of interviews [of detained Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega] apparently obtained under duress". "We have also monitored other BTRC broadcasts on this issue which have raised other serious and quite exceptional concerns. In light of these exceptional developments, the Executive Board has no alternative other than to propose the suspension of BTRC’s membership of the EBU," the statement said.
In March, the organizers of the 2021 Eurovision song contest blocked Belarus’ participation because in their opinion, the song presented by the country did not conform to the rules of the contest.
On May 23, a Vilnius-bound Ryanair plane that took off from Athens made an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a reported bomb threat. A MiG-29 fighter jet alert crew was scrambled to escort the plane. After the landing, the plane was inspected and no bomb was found inside. The Belarusian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into a false bomb alert. Among the passengers on the flight was Roman Protasevich, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which Minsk recognizes as extremist. Protasevich was detained by law enforcement officials once the plane had landed in the Belarusian capital. Russian national Sofia Sapega was also detained. On Sunday evening, the plane left Minsk airport and continued to Vilnius.