MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/: The United Kingdom will host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a statement on Monday.
"The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the BBC are pleased to confirm that the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will be hosted in the United Kingdom on behalf of this year’s winning broadcaster, Ukraine," the statement reads.
According to the EBU, "Ukraine, as the winning country of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, will also automatically qualify to the Grand Final of the upcoming Contest." "Next year’s Host City will be chosen in the coming months following a bidding process to be launched this week," the EBU added.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote on Twitter that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, and he had agreed last week "that wherever Eurovision 2023 is held, it must celebrate the country and people of Ukraine." "As we are now hosts, the UK will honor that pledge directly - and put on a fantastic contest on behalf of our Ukrainian friends," Johnson added.
Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra won the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Italy’s Turin. The UK took second place, while Spain was third. Traditionally, the song contest takes place in the winning country. Ukraine initially announced its readiness to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023 but the EBU later said that the possibility to hold the event in the UK was under consideration due to security reasons.
