Once a showcase for Eastern Bloc nations including Poland and Czechoslovakia, the competition is set to be a counterpoint to the pan-European extravaganza that Russia was banned from following its invasion of Ukraine.
The new contest, slated to take place in Moscow, aims to foster “international cultural and humanitarian cooperation,” according to the Kremlin decree.
The event’s organizational reins have been handed to Vice Premier Dmitrij Czernyszenko, signaling high-level governmental backing for what is being presented as a cultural project of significant diplomatic ambition.
While the decree does not specify a precise date, Russian independent media recall remarks from a special cultural envoy, Michaił Szwydkoj, who last year floated the possibility of a September 2025 launch.
Reports suggest that nearly 20 countries—ranging from former Soviet republics to emerging BRICS members such as China, India, and Brazil—are already preparing to participate, hinting at the contest’s potential to become a new hub for international cultural dialogue.
Russia’s track record in Eurovision, where it participated from 1994 until its expulsion in 2022, looms large in the cultural imagination. The nation once celebrated global success on that stage—most notably in 2008 when pop star Dima Bilan clinched victory with “Believe,” leading to the 2009 contest being hosted at Moscow’s Olympic Stadium.
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Source: PAP