EU anger after flag banned from Eurovision Song Contest

Nemo of Switzerland, who performed the song The Code (Martin Meissner/AP)

The Eurovision song contest continued to spawn unprecedented controversy days after the winner was crowned, with the 27-nation European Union criticising organisers for their “incoherence” in banning its flag from the concert hall during the final.

In an unusually sharp letter, EU Commission vice president Margaritis Schinas wrote to the Swiss-based European Broadcast Union, which organises the contest, saying its ban contributes to “discrediting a symbol that brings together all Europeans”.