Tick Tock (2014)

Ukraine - the historical heart of Europe

Through the ages, Ukraine has been a part of 45% of all of the participating nations in Eurovision 2017.
This includes:

The neolithic Trypllian  culture of Moldova and Romania

Ancient Greece

The Roman empire, the Republic of Genoa, Venice

The Viking world of Sweden, Norway and Iceland

The early medieval city states in Belarus, Estonia and Russia

The Third Reich

The Austro-Hungarian Empire

Poland

Lithuania

Czechoslovakia

In the Soviet Union with:

Estonia

Latvia

Belarus

Georgia

Armenia

Azerbaijan

The edge IS the centre

…. and now Ukraine (Ukraina) itself has been independent for 25 years (again).
The word "kraina" means "land" in several Slavic languages, but it also means "edge".
And as an edge it has been the fault line in politics of our continent for centuries,
Through history Ukraine has been the frontline for all of the great political struggles:

Pagan Viking lands and Christian Constantinople

the Islamic and Christian world

the Swedish and Russian world

the Ottoman and Tsarist empires;

the communist and capitalist blocs;

industry and the environment;

and now the expansion of the EU.

Making Ukraine central to how everyone in Europe has defined themselves for the last millennium.