Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS has announced it will pull out of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, citing the competition’s failure to restore its “neutral and independent character” amid ongoing divisions over Israel’s participation during the war in Gaza.
In a statement on Monday, August 24, AVROTROS said it made the decision because international conflicts are “increasingly affecting the contest, undermining its neutral character and turning Eurovision into a platform for division.”
The broadcaster said: “The severe humanitarian suffering in Gaza and the ongoing restrictions on press freedom have contributed to increasing divisions surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest in recent years.”
The move follows only weeks after the European Broadcasting Union made amendments to its rules in a bid to ensure that no country in an active state of war participates in the competition should it win. But according to AVROTROS, the amendments were “not sufficient proof that the independent and neutral nature of the Eurovision Song Contest had been restored.”
It is for the second year running that AVROTROS is pulling out of the competition. The Netherlands is one of the five countries, including Spain, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia, which withdrew from the ongoing contest in Vienna because Israel was allowed to participate in the contest. Israel emerged runner-up.
Next year’s competition will be held in Burgas, Bulgaria, having won the contest last month by Bulgarian singer Dara.
Eurovision director Martin Green said the EBU “regretted” AVROTROS’s decision but respected its views.
The EBU will continue dialogue with NPO, the umbrella organisation for Dutch public media, “regarding the opportunities for another broadcaster to participate.”
Taco Zimmerman, Director General of AVROTROS, said stepping away from “an event that is very close to our hearts” was painful but necessary to uphold the broadcaster’s values of “trustworthiness, independence and humanity.”
2026-08-24 22:14:00
