Head of Moldova's public broadcaster resigns amid mass Eurovision protests

Vlad Țurcanu’s resignation on May 18 turned a Eurovision voting dispute into a political and institutional story in Moldova. Reuters reported that the head of public broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova stepped down after mass protests in Chisinau over the country’s voting in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest. (aol.com) The backlash followed a sharp gap between the Moldovan jury’s scores and the public vote. By Monday, the dispute had moved from social media and television coverage into the streets and the broadcaster’s leadership. (razomua.media) ### Why did the broadcaster chief resign over a song contest vote? May 18 was the day Țurcanu announced he was leaving his post as director general of Teleradio-Moldova. (news.yam.md) Moldova1, cited through local aggregation and other reports, said he made the decision during a press conference held two days after the Eurovision final and linked it to criticism of the national jury’s voting. Reuters reported the resignation came after mass public protests over the vote. Țurcanu said the jury had failed to take account of the sensitivities in Moldova’s relations with neighboring Romania and Ukraine, according to Moldova1 and other reports that carried his remarks. He said the vote was his responsibility and that he would submit his resignation to the broadcaster’s supervisory board. (aol.com) ### What exactly triggered the public anger? The immediate trigger was Moldova’s jury score for two neighboring countries. Multiple reports said the Moldovan jury gave Romania three points and Ukraine zero in the Eurovision final. At the same time, Moldovan viewers gave Romania 12 points in the public vote, producing a discrepancy that became the focus of criticism. (news.yam.md) Romania finished third in the contest with 296 points, according to published results cited in post-contest coverage. Moldova finished eighth with 226 points. Those standings did not stop the argument from centering on how Moldova’s jury had ranked Romania and Ukraine. (news.yam.md) ### What happened in Chisinau? Chisinau was the center of the protests on May 18. Reuters said mass demonstrations took place after the voting controversy, with protesters accusing officials of irregularities in the Eurovision vote. The report described the resignation as a response to pressure that had spilled into public demonstrations. (razomua.media) Local and regional reports described the backlash as broad and fast-moving, beginning online after the final and then widening into demands for accountability at Teleradio-Moldova. Several accounts said the dispute was amplified by Moldova’s political and cultural ties to Romania and by public sympathy for Ukraine. (esccovers.com) ### Was there an official explanation for the vote? Teleradio-Moldova’s leadership said the national jury was independent, according to post-contest reporting on the broadcaster’s response. But Țurcanu also said the panel had not sufficiently considered the broader context in which the vote would be received in Moldova. (aol.com) That explanation did not end the dispute. Reports published on May 18 said the composition of the jury and the way the points were assigned became part of the public scrutiny after the final. ### What comes next for Teleradio-Moldova? (eurovisionfun.com) The next formal step is with Teleradio-Moldova’s supervisory board. On May 18, Țurcanu said he would submit his resignation to the board, according to Moldova1 and follow-up reports. Reuters reported the resignation on the same day, making the board’s handling of the departure the immediate institutional step to watch in Chisinau. (news.yam.md) (razomua.media) (byteseu.com)