Zelensky controversy at music festival in Italy

The fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sent a video message on the last day of Italy’s oldest music festival has caused controversy in the country.

The long-running music festival, which is taking place for the 73rd time this year in Sanremo, Italy, was on the country’s agenda with discussion before it began. According to Italian media reports, Zelenskiy informed the organization that he wanted to speak at the Sanremo festival through Bruno Vespa, the programmer for the Rai channel, with whom he had recently been interviewed, and the festival officials agreed to this. . After that, the fact that Zelenskiy sent a video message on the last day of the festival split the audience in two.

Opinions came from many party leaders in government and opposition, stating that Zelenskiy’s participation in the festival was unnecessary. “We hope that Sanremo will remain a festival of Italian songs, nothing more,” said Matteo Salvini, leader of the ruling far-right League Party, which has been publicly criticized for its relations with Russia, and also deputy prime minister and minister of Transportation and Transportation. Infrastructure.

Expressing that he was very pleased with the timely attempts by Giuseppe Conte de Zelenskiy, leader of the opposition 5 Star Movement (M5S), to address the Italian parliament, he said: “Frankly, I don’t think it’s very necessary for President Zelenskiy to be in Sanremo.” .

Carlo Calenda, leader of the opposition Action Party, said there was little doubt about his support for Ukraine, but it was a “mistake” for a country’s president to deliver a message at a music event. A group of intellectuals, including historian Franco Cardini, writer Carlo Freccero and actor Moni Ovadia, said they could not understand Zelenskiy’s presence at the festival, describing it as “profoundly disrespectful”.

Bruno Vespa, the person who relayed Zelenskiy’s request to send a message to the festival, recalled that the Ukrainian leader had participated in other festivals in this way before, saying: “I don’t understand all the noise caused by Zelenskiy’s short speech. “It’s a pointless discussion,” he said.

The presenter of the “Amadeus” festival also argued that Zelenskiy’s participation in the last day was correct. (AA)