71st Miss Universe: Meet the contestants from Europe
Out of over 80 contestants at the 71st Miss Universe pageant now happening in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 25 came from Europe. Switzerland returned to the competition after a 3-year break while for some reason several countries such as Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Romania, and Sweden withdrew. Latvia, which was expected to compete for the first time since 2006, made the last-minute decision to not compete after its representative tested positive for COVID-19 before departure. Countries still waiting for their first win are Albania, Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Iceland, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Switzerland, Turkiye, and Ukraine. Sweden still leads in Europe with three Miss Universe winners followed by Finland and France with two wins each. Germany, Greece, Netherlands, and Norway have each captured one victory in the past. Russia and Spain got one win each respectively in 1974 and 2002 but were dethroned. Is it about time...