Music For SVP, Bern's ESC dossier was the weakest

The SVP of the canton of Bern is pleased that the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 will not be held in Bern. However, SVP councillor Samuel Krähenbühl does not believe that their threat of a referendum was decisive for the SRG's decision.

"Let's be honest, the Bern dossier was the weakest," said Krähenbühl in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency on Friday. The festival hall in Bern, for example, was only just being built, which may have deterred SRG. The bid had "not only failed because of us".

As the largest party in the canton of Bern, the SVP had already threatened a referendum at the beginning of July, before the cantonal government had approved the loan of around CHF 30 million for the attention of the Grand Council. Krähenbühl emphasized that the SVP was not interested in ideology, but in sending a financial policy signal.

The canton should not spend money on one-off spectacles that are not sustainable. This would have acutely threatened the tax reduction of 0.5 tax tenths planned for 2025, said Krähenbühl. Everyone benefits from lower taxes, but not from the ESC.

Krähenbühl doubts the great economic benefit of the Eurovision Song Contest. The hotels and restaurants would not simply be empty otherwise. In some cases, other guests would simply be driven away by major events. He was also disturbed by the disparity between the contributions from the city (7 million) and the canton (30 million).