Eurovision to boycott Gaza: Will not participate next year.

The Netherlands has decided to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest due to the Gaza war. The country's public broadcaster AVROTROS stated that the impact of international conflicts on the contest is increasingly growing and that the organization can no longer be considered an impartial platform.

AVROTROS General Manager Taco Zimmerman, in his statement, argued that in recent years Eurovision has come to the forefront more because of political divisions than music. Zimmerman said, "It is an undeniable fact that international conflicts are increasingly affecting the contest and damaging its impartial nature. For this reason, the Eurovision Song Contest has turned into a platform of division."

The organizers' new regulation that prevents countries involved in an armed conflict from hosting the contest was also deemed insufficient by the Dutch broadcaster. AVROTROS said that the announced changes did not provide confidence that Eurovision's independent and impartial character has been restored.

Emphasizing that the decision was not easy for them, Zimmerman said they would very much like to participate in next year's edition of the contest, but the institution's values take priority. Zimmerman said, "As a public broadcaster, we continue to uphold our commitment to our values. Even if stepping back from an event so close to our hearts, these values guide everything we do."

Israel's participation sparked a wave of boycotts

Eurovision has recently faced increasing calls for boycotts due to Israel's participation in the contest. In addition to the Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia withdrew from the contest citing Israel's participation. Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia also decided not to broadcast the event.

Israel, despite approaching first place in 2025 and 2026, finished both contests in second place. The boycott by five countries also reflected in Eurovision's viewership numbers. While 131 million people watched the 2026 event, this figure fell 35 million compared to the previous year.

The contest will be held in Burgas for the first time.

The Eurovision Song Contest of next year will take place in Burgas, on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, on 15 May. Thus Bulgaria will host Eurovision for the first time in its history.

The hosting rights passed to Bulgaria after the Bulgarian singer known as Dara, Darina Yotova, won the contest held in Vienna, Austria, with her song 'Bangaranga'.

The Netherlands, which joined Eurovision in 1956 when the contest first began, has won first place five times to date. The country's most recent victory came with Duncan Laurence's 2019 recording of 'Arcade'. The song, which achieved great success on global charts, became the first Eurovision entry to reach one billion streams on Spotify.

Founded in 1955, Eurovision helped catapult ABBA to worldwide fame while also giving significant career boosts to artists such as Celine Dion, Cliff Richard, and Olivia Newton‑John. However, Israel's participation and the escalating debate surrounding the Gaza war have placed the contest—one of the world's largest live television music events—into the midst of one of its most serious political crises.