File talk:ESC 2010 Map.svg
EBU criteria[edit]
This map is intended for usage on Wikipedia thus we should maintain some factually correct state of this map. It is uploaded on Commons so that it could be used on many Wikipedias more easily.
For a country to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest it needs to have an EBU member broadcaster. Conditions for active membership of the EBU are laid down in Article 3§3 of the Union's Statutes, which reads as follows[1]:
Active membership of the EBU is open to broadcasting organizations or groups of such organizations from:
- a member country of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) situated in the European Broadcasting Area as defined by the Radio Regulations annexed to the International Telecommunication Convention, or a member country of the Council of Europe which is situated outside the European Broadcasting Area.
The issue with this map is the inclusion of Palestine and Kosovo.
Both Palestine and Kosovo have substantial recognition, 96 and 63 states respectively, however this plays no significance on Eurovision. Another example is UEFA, even though the majority of Governments of UEFA members recognise Kosovo independence it is not a reason to include Kosovo in the map of UEFA members, and not just because UEFA strongly objects to mixing politics with their work and not only because Michel Platini strongly objected to Kosovo membership, but also because of a very simple reason - Kosovo is not a member state thus it makes little sense to add it to the map. The same goes for Palestine and some organisations of which it is not a member nor eligible for membership.
As for Palestine it lies somewhere around the border of the EBA, and if we say it is outside, it would have to be a member state of the Council of Europe which it is not. Therefore Palestine cannot be added to this map as it is not eligible for the EBU membership and thus it is not eligible for the ESC participation in 2010. There is also the Eurovision participation criteria, so even if Palestine joined EBU today, it would not be eligible for participation in 2010. Kosovo does lie within EBA, so the criteria would be membership in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), however ITU is the body of the United Nations and the prospect of Kosovo joining the UN is not very bright at this point. Therefore Kosovo cannot be added to this map as it is not eligible for the EBU membership and thus it is not eligible for the ESC participation in 2010.
