Norbert Kettner, chief executive of Vienna’s tourism board, told POLITICO that security measures around the city are “much more intense” than the last time Eurovision was hosted here in 2015.
“Yes, the security measures are extremely high. No big event in the free world can be made anymore without high security levels,” Kettner said, adding that the city is working to “protect people who want to celebrate peacefully, but also protect people who want demonstrate peacefully.”
He added that across the week, the energy among fans from different countries has been “peaceful and moderate.”
Eurovision’s organizer, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has repeatedly underlined that the song contest is apolitical, and that any broadcaster can take part as long as they follow EBU rules.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday evening, the director general of Austria’s public broadcaster (ORF), Ingrid Thurnher, addressed the protest. She said everybody has the right to their opinion, and “that’s the nature of democracy,” but as the final is tonight the focus should be on the stage.
“We would really like for a couple of hours to have music, have the whole attention at this Eurovision Song Contest. Everybody’s heard, everybody has his right to say his opinion tonight, but it’s the musicians who take the voice on this stage,” she said.