The Netherlands will not participate in next year's Eurovision Song Contest, its broadcaster said Monday, saying the event can "no longer be considered neutral" given divisions over the Gaza war.

“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 Taco Zimmerman, Director-General of AVROTROS in a statement from the broadcaster.

The contest has recently been hit by a wave of boycotts over Israel’s participation.

Earlier this month, organisers announced they were excluding any country involved in an armed conflict from hosting the competition.

The 2026 competition was watched by 131 million viewers, down 35 million on the year before after five countries boycotted it over Israel’s participation.

The Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia all pulled out of the contest – with the latter three refusing to broadcast the show at all.

  • zout@fedia.io
    2·
    12 hours ago

    Small correction, the broadcaster AVROTROS won’t parcipitate. In the past years they organized the Dutch participation, but others have also done so in the past, and are allowed to step in right now.