Swiss city could hold referendum over Eurovision cash
Voters in the Swiss city of Basel could cut back public funding for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in a referendum in November.
The conservative Federal Democratic Union on Saturday submitted a petition with 4000 signatures, enough to force a referendum on the issue of city authorities raising 35 million Swiss francs ($A61 million) in loans to finance the event.
The signatures have yet to be certified.
The party’s Daniel Frischknecht said it has nothing against music, and nothing against participants’ sexual orientation, but argued that Eurovision has little to do with music and is instead highly charged politically and ideologically.
The party’s website details the stance and says: “No to occultism and Satanism” and “no to anti-Semitism,” accusing past Eurovision contestants of holding such beliefs.
If the Basel electorate votes against the city’s contribution, the contest will have to be cut back, according to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation.
“The event would be reduced to a big television show on Saturday evening, without side events and so naturally with much lower value-creation for the city,” the organiser told the Keystone-SDA national news agency.
The contest is traditionally held in the home country of the previous year’s winner.
After Swiss contestant Nemo won this year in Malmö in Sweden, Switzerland is to host the 69th edition from May 13 to 17 next year.
Basel’s St Jakobshalle is the chosen venue.
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