The Swedish city of Malmo is preparing to host the Eurovision Song Contest in early May under high security, amid protests over Israel’s participation during its ongoing fight with Hamas, AFP reports.

The war in Ukraine, and a heightened threat level in Sweden since August mean organisers already had their work cut out to ensure that the world’s biggest live music event, which runs from May 5 to 11, goes off without a hitch.

“We have the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the war in Ukraine which has affected Sweden, a bigger risk of hybrid warfare, there are cyberattacks,” the head of security for the city of Malmo, Ulf Nilsson, enumerated for AFP.“We’re living in troubled times.”