Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko advocates the Ukrainian decision to bar Russia’s 2017 Eurovision contestant Yulia Samoilova from entering Ukraine because she violated the rules of entry to occupied Crimea.
“Ukraine allows trips to Crimea solely across the administrative border of Kherson region. Any other way violates the Ukrainian laws and entails sanctions. The Russian side is fully aware of that; these requirements are the same for everyone,” Poroshenko told a press conference after negotiations with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis in Riga on April 4.
According to the Ukrainian president, the Russian side knows about such rules and took this decision deliberately, counting on provocation.
“The Ukrainian government did not succumb to this provocation: it acts consistently towards all those who violated Ukrainian legislation. And therefore the relevant authorities did not give her the permission to cross the Ukrainian border,” Poroshenko said.
According to the president, Kyiv offered several options for settling this matter, starting with Samoilova’s participation of in the contest via a video linkup and up to her replacement.
In his words, Russia’s aim was not the participation in Eurovision per se, but a provocation. “I am glad that thanks to effective actions of the Ukrainian authorities this provocation was prevented,” the president summed up.
