The voters of the Swiss city of Basel approved on Sunday, by an overwhelming majority, the financing of nearly 40 million euros for the hosting in their city of the Eurovision television show, which therefore promises, for its 2025 edition , to take place with all its usual pomp.
Provisional voting results show that 66.4% of voters in this northern Swiss city are in favor of using taxpayers’ money to the tune of 34.96 million Swiss francs (37.4 million euros) to host the show.
Without funding from the host city, the television event, which attracts a huge global audience, would have been significantly truncated. Switzerland won Eurovision 2024 in Sweden with the victory of non-binary artist Nemo and is due to host the 2025 edition in May in this Rhine city, on the border of France and Germany. The authorities hope for 60 million francs in immediate benefits.
The Federal Democratic Union (UDF), a small party defending “timeless Christian values”, had launched a referendum to denounce a “real waste” of public money. The party, described as ultra-conservative by the Swiss press, had also put forward security and moral arguments.
In the event of rejection of the city’s contribution, the event planned for ten days would have been reduced “to a major television show on Saturday evening”, without the organization of public events outside the main stage, warned the head of communications for Eurovision 2025, Edi Estermann.
“We are a city of art, fine arts, but also music. It is still very important for our city“, argued Andrea Strahm, lawyer and member of the Basel parliament.
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