The public broadcaster in the Netherlands AvroTros said it will boycott the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest for a second year in protest at the presence of ‘Israel’, citing the war on Gaza and a lack of clear rules for excluding countries involved in military conflicts.
“It is undeniable that international conflicts are increasingly affecting the Contest, undermining its neutral character. The Eurovision Song Contest has therefore become a platform for division,” said AvroTros Director Taco Zimmerman in a statement from the broadcaster.
The contest has recently been hit by a wave of boycotts over Israeli participation.
Earlier this month, organizers announced they were excluding any country involved in an armed conflict from hosting the competition.
“The recently announced changes by the European Broadcasting Union do not provide sufficient confidence that the independent and neutral character of the Eurovision Song Contest has been restored,” AvroTros said.
Dutch state broadcaster AVROTROS decides not to participate in 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, citing Israeli war on Gaza pic.twitter.com/hEqxl8pHfx
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) August 24, 2026
Next year’s event, the world’s biggest live televised music event, will take place on May 15 in Bulgaria’s Black Sea city of Burgas.
The Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia all pulled out of the 2026 contest — with the latter three refusing to broadcast the show at all.
The withdrawal is “painful as we would have very much liked to be part of the Contest again next year,” said Zimmerman.
Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar)