The residents of the Swiss city of Basel have voted by a large majority in favor of public funding for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2025, the AFP news agency reports. The amount involved is almost 40 million euros.
A partial count has shown that more than 66 percent of voters are in favor of using tax money to organize the event. Without that money, activities surrounding the international event would be drastically scaled back.
Switzerland went to the polls on Sunday to vote in a number of referendums. These were about, among other things, highways, housing and therefore the Eurovision Song Contest.
Referendums play an important role in politics in Switzerland. By collecting a certain number of signatures, citizens can request a referendum on bills or important issues, such as in this case the public funding of the Eurovision Song Contest. The result of such a referendum is binding.
The Christian-conservative political party EDU called for a referendum on the Song Contest, because it would be a “terrible propaganda event”. The party believes, among other things, that artists display “occult and satanic messages”.
The EDU is a relatively small party, but the larger party SVP is also critical of the event. The party called the song festival a “big theater with little content and embarrassing self-promoters.”
The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 will take place in May. Last month it was announced that the Netherlands will be participating in the Song Festival again next year. It is not yet known who will represent the Netherlands. Source: nu.nl
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