Eurovision Week starts and we already have a great Eurodrama that could take ahead the representative of North MacedoniaAndrea Koevska. During the photocall for the opening of the Eurovision Song Contest, held last night in Turin, Italy, the artist threw the flag of her country to the ground.
A gesture, made with the intention of taking photos without the flag he was carrying, which has been seen as an absolute lack of respect towards a national symbol. The MRT, the public television of North Macedonia, is even considering its withdrawal from the event due to the insult, which is punishable by Macedonian law.
According to the statement published by the chain:
“The MRT strongly condemns the move of our representative, who threw the state flag on the ground during the photo session in Turin. The public entity is in no way behind this scandalous behavior of our Eurovision representative, who with that gesture showed a lack of respect for her national symbol, which is punishable by law ».
A video of her action at today’s opening ceremony, which has been described as “defiling a national symbol”, punishable by North Macedonian law. pic.twitter.com/d4Yqja6f3h
— ESC Discord (@ESCdiscord) May 8, 2022
In addition, the public entity has announced that it will propose “the strictest penalty” possible for this scandal.
A few hours later, Andrea Koevska apologized, assuring that “I am here to represent Macedonia in the best way” and that it was not his intention to disrespect the flag. In fact, he has justified the fact because his team was not around to pick it up.
A withdrawal that would have a unique precedent
It will be necessary to see if the scandal finally ends in a withdrawal from the contest. Not very likely at this point, with his performance scheduled for the second semi-final on Thursday. Koevska participates with the song Circles.
The only precedent we have in the history of Eurovision of a country that withdraws days before the competition is that of France, which in 1974 decided not to participate as a gesture of mourningwhen the President of the Republic, Georges Pompidou, died that same week.
This hypothetical and unusual withdrawal would add to the expulsion of Russia in terms of countries that finally do not participate this year in the Song Festival.