Head of "Teleradio-Moldova" resigns following "Eurovision 2026" jury vote scandal

The Director General of the national public company "Teleradio-Moldova" Vlad Turcanu has resigned following the intense public and political backlash over the voting of the Moldovan jury at "Eurovision 2026". The decision comes amid sharp criticism sparked by the fact that Ukraine received zero points from the professional jury, and Romania – only three.

The scandal erupted after it became clear there was a drastic discrepancy between the professional jury's scores and the television audience's vote. During the televoting, Moldovan viewers awarded Romania the maximum 12 points, while the jury gave it only 3. Ukraine received 10 points from the public but remained with zero from the professionals.

Against this backdrop and amid rising public tension, Vlad Turcanu decided to step down from the position. On the air of the television channel "Moldova M1", he emphasized that he had not exerted pressure on the jury, but acknowledged that what happened was an extraordinary case.

"I avoided giving instructions to the jury members and what happened is an extraordinary event. In our opinion, the jury did not take into account the sensitive moments that exist between the Republic of Moldova and our neighbors – Romania and Ukraine," stated Turcanu.

The head of the public media outlet emphasized that despite the institutional independence of the jury from the company's management, the reputational risks to the media remain the responsibility of top management. By submitting his resignation, he aims to emphasize that Chisinau's foreign policy and cultural orientation towards Kyiv and Bucharest remains unchanged. Until his successor is chosen by the TRM Supervisory Board, Turcanu will continue to perform his duties.

"The brotherly relations that the Republic of Moldova has with Romania, as well as our gratitude and respect for Ukraine for its daily sacrifices, remain unchanged. Our attitude towards Ukraine is not zero, and our feelings towards Romania can only be love," he summarized.

The situation escalated further following the public reaction of the Moldovan representative Margarita Druta, who announced the national jury results during the live broadcast of the final. In a "TikTok" post, the singer admitted that she was so shocked by the judges' decision that she considered not going on air.

Moldova's Minister of Culture, Cristian Jardan, has also already reacted to the scandal, demanding official explanations from those responsible for selecting the jury members. A review of the criteria and the mechanism for forming the scores is expected in order to prevent such crisis situations in the future.