Residents of the canton of Basel called to the polls this Sunday. They must say yes or no to the funding of Eurovision 2025 by the city. THE concours is planned for next May in the city on the banks of the Rhine, bordering France and Germany.
But a small Swiss party described as ultra conservative managed to gather more than 4,000 signatures. The UDF, the federal democratic union, was therefore able to organize this referendum. He hopes to cancel the credits allocated by the canton for Eurovision. The party that boasts of defending timeless Christian values first speaks of a waste of public money on musical performances which he considers blasphemous or even occult.
The canton of Basel has in fact decided to donate nearly 35 million Swiss francs for Eurovision. Or 37 million euros. And Switzerland won the competition after the victory in Malmö in Sweden of the non-binary artist Nemo.
Nemo – The Code (LIVE) | Switzerland????????| Grand Final | Eurovision 2024
The party behind the referendum refuses to give public funds to a competition which it accuses of being a vector of woke or transgender ideologies, contrary, it says, to Western Judeo-Christian values. He also points to the performance this year of Irish artist Bambie Thug, whom he accuses of having organized a black mass in public.
So even if the 110,000 voters of the canton of Basel refused to allocate funds to the organization of Eurovision. The competition would still take place in a reduced version. It can also theoretically be transferred to another Swiss city. The grand final of the 69th edition of Eurovision is scheduled for May 17 in Basel in the Saint Jakobshalle concert hall with a capacity of 12,000 spectators.
Switzerland hopes for economic benefits around 60 million Swiss francs. The European Radio and Television Union therefore speaks of a profitable competition in the long term.
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