Pier Silvio Berlusconi, CEO of Mediaset, dares the video debate between Zelenskyy and Sanremo in Italy

Mediaset CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi has given his verdict on an upcoming video appearance by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Italy’s legendary Sanremo Eurovision Song Contest.

At a press conference for Mediaset results on Thursday, Berlusconi said he did not think the festival celebrating Italian song was the right place for such a speech.

The TV executive and entrepreneur is the son of Italian media mogul and politician Silvio Berlusconi, who describes himself as one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s best friends.

Zelensky has made video speeches at a series of cultural and entertainment events since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, including the Cannes and Venice film festivals, the Golden Globes and the UK’s Glastonbury music festival.

Plans to stage a similar operation on Sanremo’s final night on February 11 were pushed after concerns were raised by some board members of state broadcaster Rai, which owns the broadcasting rights for the event.

Italian media reported that they had asked for the address to be checked before it was broadcast, warning that certain positions taken and expressed by the president could harm the organization.

The move followed comments from far-right minister Matteo Salvini, who said he hoped Sanremo would remain a festival dedicated to Italian song and “nothing else” in connection with Zelenskyj’s planned performance.

The Last Night of Sanremo is one of the most watched events on live television in Italy. In 2022 it attracted 13.3 million viewers for a 64.9% share of the local audience

“It’s a big nut to crack for Rai, it’s hard to decide when a request like this comes directly from the Ukrainian leader himself; As a broadcaster, I cannot say that Rai should not do this,” Berlusconi said at Mediaset’s press conference in response to a question about the Zelenskyi-Sanremo debate.

“However, as a private individual who pays his license fee, I would prefer not to. I feel that Zelensky has a desire for visibility that bothers me. There is a conflict. Sanremo doesn’t seem to be the right context for me.”

A number of media commentators rejected suggestions that Zelenskyi’s speech had no place in Sanremo and that politics should be kept out of the event, which is being held at the beach resort’s Ariston Theatre.

“Sanremo and politics have always been intertwined,” wrote Mario Ajello, a journalist for Rome daily. The Messengerciting the presence of anti-mafia writer and journalist Roberto Saviano in 2022 and the appearance of the late Russian president and perestroika architect Mikhail Gorbachev in 1999.

“All the battles and problems of Italy were shown on the Ariston stage, which was never neutral and only focused on the music,” he added.

Despite political pressure, Zelenskyy’s speech is expected to go ahead as planned on a night that, in addition to the competition acts, will also include a headline act by British band Depeche Mode.