At the December assembly, members of the European Broadcasting Union decided not to call a vote on the expulsion Israel. Instead, a package of reforms was adopted, among which are clearer bans on state or third-party promotion of performances and additional rules against political messages, as an attempt to preserve the "non-political" nature of the competition, but also to protect the inclusive character of Eurovision.
The CEO of Eurovision, Martin Green, spoke out after the participating countries of this music contest rebelled against the participation of Israel. He pointed out that he understands the strong emotions caused by the situation in the Middle East, but yes Eurovision it must be guided by clearly set rules.
"Nobody can remain indifferent to what we've seen in the Middle East over the last few years. The only way Eurovision can continue to bring people together is if we follow our rules first and foremost," said Martin.
It is clear, however, that Eurovision is facing one of the most difficult reputational crises in its history.
Who withdrew from Eurovision?
Immediately after the announcement of the decision, several countries announced that they would not participate in Eurovision 2026. Among the countries that publicly announced their withdrawal are Iceland, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza, public pressure and the belief that Israel's participation in the given circumstances legitimizes actions that those broadcasters and their public cannot support are cited as reasons.
In addition to the mentioned countries, many others are still not officially sure whether they will participate in the competition in May next year. Seventeen Portuguese artists, who are performing in the national competition "Festival da Cancao", have announced that they refuse to represent the country in case of victory.
"Despite the fact that Russia was excluded from the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest for political reasons, we were surprised that the same attitude was not applied to Israel, which, according to the United Nations, is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza," said the statement of these participants.
In the meantime, a petition was launched with the request that Portugal immediately withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest, and so far more than 22.000 people have signed it. As it is pointed out, the vote of the Portuguese Public Service RTP in favor of Israel "puts Portugal on the wrong side of history".
Nemo returns the trophy in protest
Eurovision Song Contest 2024 winner Nemo said he is returning his trophy to protest Israel's continued participation in the contest.
The 26-year-old Swiss singer said there was a "clear conflict" between Israel's participation in the contest and the ideals of "unity, inclusion and dignity" that Eurovision claims to stand for.
Nemo also posted a video of himself putting the trophy in a cardboard box, saying it would be sent back to EBU headquarters in Geneva.
"Although I am immensely grateful to the community around this competition and everything this experience has taught me as a person and as an artist, today I no longer feel that this trophy belongs on my shelf," Nemo points out.
Martin Green said that Eurovision was "sad" by the decision and respected Nemo's views, writes the BBC.
What does Serbia and RTS say?
RTS confirmed Serbia's participation in Eurovision 2026 and announced the traditional national selection "Song for Eurovision 2026" as a mechanism for selecting representatives.
RTS did not officially support the boycott, and instead, the broadcaster took the position that it would participate and that the decision on possible diplomatic or political initiatives would be left to political bodies, not to the selection of the competition.
On the other hand, on the specialized site with news about Eurovision, eurovizija.rs, it is stated that a group of RTS workers "Naš pRoTeSt" (NP) announced an invitation to the broadcaster to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest.
NP is a group of RTS workers that supports student protests and fights for objective reporting by RTS.
In its statement, Naš pRoTeSt (NP) mentions the terrible living conditions in Gaza as well as the normalization of starvation and war crimes that the whole world is watching on broadcast. NP also welcomed the decisions of broadcasters from Ireland, Iceland, Slovenia, Spain and the Netherlands to withdraw from the competition.
