Belarus may lose right to take part in Eurovision

Several members of the European parliament are planning to send a message to the European Broadcasting Union with a request to deprive Belarus of the right to participate in Eurovision song contest, the Russian News website NEWSru.com reported.

The authors of the initiative claim that such decision may be a sanction against the Belarusian authorities for their attempts to suppress a December 19 post-electoral rally in the country.

President of the European parliament Jerzy Buzek proposed last week that the country be deprived of the right to participate in sporting events, particularly Olympic games and world championships.

Belarus is the only country that covers the entire funding of Eurovision song contests from its state budget.