The EBU have been forced to make a statement regarding the recent news that Kazakhstan may be set for a 2019 debut in Eurovision, and has suggested that the current rules of membership to the organisation would only allow for associate membership for Channel 31.
[AdSense-B]The statement obtained by our friends at esctoday suggests the following;
“Channel 31 Kazakhstan has indeed expressed interest in becoming a Member of the EBU and hence participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.
However, since Channel 31 is outside the European Broadcasting Area and is also not a member of the Council of Europe, it is not eligible to become an active Member of the EBU.”
Previously, the Kazakh broadcaster had confirmed it had entered negotiations to join the competition in 2019 and its Junior counterpart one year earlier after a successful trip to Tbilisi, Georgia for observations on Junior Eurovision 2017, as well as a performance of local children at the Euroclub
The EBU statement goes on to confirm that Kazakhstan could still participate if its Reference Group decided to extend an invitation to the broadcaster or any of the associate members in Kazakhstan.
Source: esctoday
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