In a statement released early on Monday afternoon, the management of the Flemish public broadcaster VRT says that it is demanding full transparency from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) with regard to the televoting that took place during the final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
The VRT’s spokeswoman Yasmine Van der Borght said that "We have no indication that the counting of the televotes wasn’t carried out correctly, but we are asking for complete transparency on the part of the EBU. The question is above all whether the current system guarantees a fair reflection of the opinion of viewers and listeners”.
The VRT released its statement after the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE demanded that the EBU carry out an investigation into the results of Saturday evening’s televoting. RTVE finds it strange that despite protest again st Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, the Israeli contestant received the maximum number of points from televoters in Spain.
Previously, the Spanish public broadcaster had requested an open debate regarding the participation of Israel in future Eurovision Song Contests. The VRT supports RTVE’s request and once again issues an “explicit call to engage in debate with all nations, out of a genuine commitment and concern for the survival of the contest.”
"We at the VRT note that the Eurovision Song Contest as it is currently organised has become less and less a unifying and apolitical event. It is increasingly at odds with its original standards and values and with the standards and values of public broadcasting."
"At many levels the VRT collaborates well with the EBU. However, without serious answers with regard to our concerns about the Eurovision Song Contest we will question our future participation”.
It won’t be the VRT, but the Francophone public broadcaster RTBF that will select Belgium’s candidate for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest that will be held in Austria. As such it will be RTBF and not the VRT that will decide if Belgium will take part next year.