Ukraine: Eurovision, Gaitana, and Racism · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Odessablog writes about the Ukrainian far right's reaction to this year's Eurovision nomination – Gaitana, a Ukrainian singer and songwriter of Ukrainian and Congolese descent: “It doesn’t matter that she was born in Kyiv, has lived there all her life, is a Ukrainian citizen, or that her mother is a Ukrainian. It matters that she is not white and therefore not representative of Ukraine it seems. At least that is the opinion of Yuri Sirotyuk who happens to be highly placed within the [Svoboda party]. In fact he stated she would get ‘Nul points’ because of the colour of her skin.”