Russia slams ‘OUTRAGEOUS’ Eurovision vote scandal
RUSSIA: Moscow reacted angrily on Tuesday as its neighbour Azerbaijan
admitted that its vote at the Eurovision Song Contest awarding “nul
points” to Russia's song appeared to have been falsified.
The scandal topped the agenda at a televised briefing between the
countries' foreign ministers in Moscow, as Azerbaijan's top diplomat
admitted that the votes submitted for Russia via cell phone had somehow
been omitted from the final tally.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov read out a list of
votes submitted by the country's three cell phone providers, all of them
putting Russia in second place behind Ukraine, which should have meant
Azerbaijan gave Russia 10 points.
“Where these votes went, how they disappeared -- this is a question
for our state television,” he said, calling the case a “detective
mystery.” “When our contestant is robbed of 10 points, this does not
make us happy,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded
gravely. Lavrov said the two sides had agreed that Azerbaijan's state
television must first clarify the details of what happened. Then “we
will coordinate our joint actions so that this outrageous act is not
left without response,” he said.
The 10 points from Azerbaijan would not have changed the ranking of
Russia's contestant, who came in a disappointing fifth place, 17 points
behind Norway's representative.
The Eurovision row took precedence at the briefing over diplomatic
issues such as Azerbaijan's territorial dispute with Armenia.
AFP
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