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EUROVISION 2016

RUSSIA

Swedish celeb’s Eurovision dare: ‘I wish Russia no good’

One of Sweden's most famous TV personalities has criticized Russia's Eurovision entry.

Swedish celeb's Eurovision dare: 'I wish Russia no good'
Mark Levengood has little love for Russia's Eurovision entry. Photo: Anders Wiklund/Henrik Montgomery/TT

Sweden and Russia have not been on the best of terms in the past few years, following news of secret submarine hunts, bizarre gay rights neon sailors and Russian spies allegedly operating on Swedish soil.

But Swedo-Finnish journalist Mark Levengood, who is an avid Eurovision fan and all-around known as the country's most famous gay man, has now taken the debate one step further.

“Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Eurovision this year is that there is some kind of media war between Sweden and Russia. They have appointed Sweden as an enemy and they are incredibly keen to beat Sweden at Eurovision,” he told Swedish Radio on Monday.

Sergey Lazarev, 33, and his song You Are The Only One, is one of the top favourites to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Stockholm next month. But Levengood was clear that he would not be keeping his fingers crossed, despite admitting to liking the entry.

“I wish them no good, but have to reluctantly say that he is good and the song is good. It's going to be very dangerous,” he said.

It is not the first tense stand-off between Sweden and its eastern neighbour lately that centres around entertainment rather than intelligence or military.

Last week, Russia slammed Sweden for broadcasting a television series about its fictional takeover of Norway, saying it was tired of being portrayed as an aggressor.

In a strongly-worded statement on its Facebook page, the Russian Embassy in Stockholm wrote that “although the author of an artwork enjoys artistic freedom, this must not promote various forms of fear and instilling anti-Russian myths and prejudices”.

But the latest argument is not even the first linked to Eurovision.

In 2009, the Russian embassy launched a scathing attack on broadcaster SVT after it featured a parody video of Russia during a Melodifestivalen (Sweden's prequel to Eurovision) show. The segment included gangsters, tanks, stacking dolls and women showing a lot of flesh. 

Sweden's entry this year is 17-year-old Frans Jeppsson-Wall, with catchy pop hit If I Were Sorry. But the song has already, as tends to be Eurovision tradition, been accused of plagiarism. Check out his and Russia's entries below and decide for yourselves who your douze points go to.

 

RUSSIA

Russia announces no New Year’s greetings for France, US, Germany

US President Joe Biden, France's Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not be receiving New Year's greetings from Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Friday.

Russia announces no New Year's greetings for France, US, Germany

As the world gears up to ring in the New Year this weekend, Putin sent congratulatory messages to the leaders of Kremlin-friendly countries including Turkey, Syria, Venezuela and China.

But Putin will not wish a happy New Year to the leaders of the United States, France and Germany, countries that have piled unprecedented sanctions on Moscow over Putin’s assault on Ukraine.

“We currently have no contact with them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“And the president will not congratulate them given the unfriendly actions that they are taking on a continuous basis,” he added.

Putin shocked the world by sending troops to pro-Western Ukraine on February 24.

While Kyiv’s Western allies refused to send troops to Ukraine, they have been supplying the ex-Soviet country with weapons in a show of support that has seen Moscow suffer humiliating setbacks on the battlefield.

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