Kiev may ban ‘pro-Russian’ singers from performing in Ukraine after scuffles in Odessa, where dozens of nationalist activists tried to disrupt a concert by Ukraine’s contender for Eurovision 2008, who they deemed not patriotic enough.
Ani Lorak was due to perform in Odessa nightclub ‘Ibiza’ on Sunday. But local activists from ‘Euromaidan’, a group declaring Ukraine’s integration with the EU as its primary goal, banded together with the nationalist party Svoboda and radicals from the right-wing Right Sector to derail the event. Ukrainian nationalists have been targeting Lorak since May, when she traveled to Moscow to receive two music awards, which was deemed traitorous by some people back home.
The tension has been building up for days ahead of the concert, with the protesters finding support from high in the Ukrainian government. Culture Minister Evgeny Nishchuk said boycotting performances by Lorak “and the likes of her” is “a good and necessary deed.”
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Commenting on the clashes in Odessa on Monday, Anton Gerashchenko, an aide to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, said the ministry is preparing a blacklist of some 500 Russian performers, who would be banned from entering Ukraine for “supporting the annexation of Crimea and the partitioning of Ukraine”.
He added he didn’t believe that “Lorak’s guilt is serious enough to prevent her from performing in Ukraine,” because she hadn’t made any public comments on the Ukrainian crisis.
“She only went for some sort of music award. We shouldn’t execute her for that,” Gerashchenko wrote on his Facebook page.
Complete story at - Ukraine eyes singer blacklist after nationalists disrupt concert — RT News
Ani Lorak was due to perform in Odessa nightclub ‘Ibiza’ on Sunday. But local activists from ‘Euromaidan’, a group declaring Ukraine’s integration with the EU as its primary goal, banded together with the nationalist party Svoboda and radicals from the right-wing Right Sector to derail the event. Ukrainian nationalists have been targeting Lorak since May, when she traveled to Moscow to receive two music awards, which was deemed traitorous by some people back home.
The tension has been building up for days ahead of the concert, with the protesters finding support from high in the Ukrainian government. Culture Minister Evgeny Nishchuk said boycotting performances by Lorak “and the likes of her” is “a good and necessary deed.”
... and ...
Commenting on the clashes in Odessa on Monday, Anton Gerashchenko, an aide to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, said the ministry is preparing a blacklist of some 500 Russian performers, who would be banned from entering Ukraine for “supporting the annexation of Crimea and the partitioning of Ukraine”.
He added he didn’t believe that “Lorak’s guilt is serious enough to prevent her from performing in Ukraine,” because she hadn’t made any public comments on the Ukrainian crisis.
“She only went for some sort of music award. We shouldn’t execute her for that,” Gerashchenko wrote on his Facebook page.
Complete story at - Ukraine eyes singer blacklist after nationalists disrupt concert — RT News
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