There was a scandal between Ukraine and the UK due to the refusal to issue British visas to musicians of the Ukrainian state orchestra. This was stated on Thursday, April 13, in an article for The Guardian columnist Helen Pidd.
The material states that the team’s program was advertised on the official website of the British government as “an example of British-Ukrainian relations.”
Star entertainment executive Like Bizilin charge of the tour, said that the UK leadership has repeatedly stated the importance of supporting the Ukrainians, but the authorities were indifferent when the issue touched on the issuance of visas.
He also urged the British Minister of Culture Lucy Fraser resign.
“Those responsible for keeping artists and cultural figures out of the UK must be named and held accountable. Bands, musicians and orchestras will no longer travel to the UK due to the risk of not entering the country.” Basil said.
The Ukrainian orchestra was supposed to start their tour of the UK on April 1, but the musicians had not yet been issued visas by that time. They stayed in Paris for a week, and two days after the scheduled concert they were told that they had to pay €15,000 for an emergency visa.
Earlier, on March 25, the Ambassador of Ukraine in London Vadim Prystayko urged the people of Great Britain to accept more refugees from his country. The statement is timed to coincide with the anniversary of the launch of the program for the acceptance of Ukrainian refugees in the UK.
March 7 Home Secretary of the UK Suella Braverman announced its intention to impose a limit on the number of refugees who can enter the country during the year. According to her, the adoption of such a bill will create an orderly system in which a strictly regulated number of refugees will enter the country annually and only through safe and legal routes.
On February 25, information appeared that some Ukrainian refugees were being exploited in the UK, forcing them to work for free in exchange for housing, and British landlords, having offered Ukrainians housing under the “Houses for Ukraine” program, were driving them into credit bondage.
On February 15, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported that since February last year, 8,071,673 people from Ukraine had arrived in Europe.
