The controversy with Russia and the entry ban against the Russian Julia Samoylova probably has a post-match for Ukraine: The chairman of the EBU Reference Group Frank-Dieter Freiling considers it is not excluded that the Ukrainian TV station is awarded with a participation lock until 2021. But the same goes for Russia, as he commented the possibility for ZDF. The Ukraine and the hosting station PBC have committed themselves to welcome all countries - therefore, in the case of the Russian singer Julia Samoylova, who was not allowed to go to Kiev, a breach of the EBU statutes must be sanctioned. It is a basic value of the ESC that any EBU member can participate, "no matter who the host is". "But there must also be sanctions against Russia, because the Russians had not participated in several our presidency meetings in Kiev. Because of the violations of the statutes on both sides there should be penalties. EBU statutes provide for a number of violations, from a fine,...