Artists to be given "safe space" at the ESC 2025 in Basel
Artists are to be provided with a so-called «safe space» at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Basel. This space is intended to be a place of refuge where no filming takes place, as ESC Supervisory Board Chair Bakel Walden said in an interview.
"As the ESC, we have a duty of care and will take a closer look at the issue of well-being in future," Walden told the Sunday View.
The SRG manager admitted mistakes at the last ESC in Malmö, Sweden, which was overshadowed by the Middle East conflict: "Malmö was a great ESC final - but a few things must not be repeated," said Walden. For the edition in Basel, he promised better communication on the part of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which will organize the ESC 2025 together with SRG and the city of Basel.
"In future, we will have our own crisis management, strengthen communication and work very closely with the SRG project team. We at the EBU are organizing the competition, SRG is organizing the event together with Basel," said Walden. They want to make sure that the ESC is as neutral as possible. Anti-Semitism has no place at the ESC.
They want an ESC where everyone puts their heart and soul into it. It would be a "strong statement" if everyone treated each other fairly, peacefully and respectfully. Because: "We can't solve the many wars and conflicts in the world during the ESC," said Walden. (SDA/swi)
