The Executive Producer of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Gert Kark, has confirmed that Russia will not be returning to the Contest in the future. This comes despite claims from Eurovision’s Director Martin Green that this could have been a possibility.
Russian broadcasters no longer member of EBU
Speaking to Estonian broadcaster ERR, Gert confirmed that Russian broadcasters VGRTK and C1R would not be making a return to the Eurovision Song Contest. This is down to the fact their membership was indefinitely suspended following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He said:
Russian broadcasting is not a member of the EBU or they have been expelled by the EBU. So the answer is definitely no, of course they will not come back.
On top of this, Gert also gave some more context surrounding the controversy surrounding Israel’s participation at Eurovision and the ongoing boycott. While he insisted he has no stance on the conflict, he revealed the EBU does have measures in place to ensure the Contest will carry on. He explained that should a country win Eurovision and then be unable to host it, there are several contingency plans in place that can keep the show going.
Elsewhere in the interview, Gert revealed there was little need for the controversy surrounding Finland’s application to allow Linda Lampenius to play the violin live in Vienna. He explained that a change in rules meant this was actually cleared from the very beginning:
Our rule book is very thick, I think 300 pages in total. Although it seems like the rules are the same every year, in reality there are always a lot of changes, depending on what happened or didn’t happen the previous year.
For example, I’m the one behind the scandal that the Finnish violin [was] in a live performance. It was actually a new rule this year, but unfortunately many broadcasters hadn’t read the rules properly and it came as a surprise to them. But I’m very glad they got to play their violin.
The story of Eurovision 2026
The journey to the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest kicked off immediately following JJ’s win in Basel, when Austria’s ORF accepted the rights to host the 70th edition of the contest. The bidding process started in June, with interested cities having until July 4 to submit their bid book. Innsbruck and Vienna were shortlisted, with the latter winning the right to host next year’s contest. 35 countries will take part in the competition, the lowest number of competing entries since 2004.
As for the organisation of the competition, the ‘core team‘ was revealed in June 2025, with further details about next year’s competition to be revealed in due course. The shows took place on May 12th, 14th and 16th, with Bulgaria ultimately winning the competition.
Are you happy that Russia will not be coming back to Eurovision? Do you think Gert Kark put on a good show as Executive Producer this year? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2027!
News Source: ERR
Photo Credit: ERR
Samantha