The initial protest of Eurovision artists against Israel’s participation is now taking the form of a generalized boycott of the competition, with political implications.
Today, Public Spanish RTVE and RTVE voting has voted to retire from Eurovision 2026 in Vienna if Israel participates in the competition.
Already last May, Socialist Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had stated that Israel should be ruled out by Eurovision for reasons of “solidarity” with the “people of Palestine living the absurdity of war and bombings”.
OR Spain (Member of Big Five from 2000), is the fifth country that announces this after Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland and Ireland.
Other countries such as Belgiumreserving themselves to commit to their presence, saying that they will announce their participation or not only after the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) on December 4 and 5 in Geneva.
On the contrary, the organizing country, Austria, Switzerland and Big 5 Germany and Italy are in favor of Israel’s participation in the competition.
Read: Why is Israel still participating in Eurovision? It is more complicated than you can imagine
EBU: ‘Consultation is in progress‘
Until recently, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has firmly rejected any Israeli exclusion scenario. However, at the end of August for the first time, Eurovision Director Martin Green left the possibility open.
As he said, Israel’s participation remains under discussion and the final decision will be made according to developments in the near future.
“Consultation with the wider EBU members is in progress and no decisions will be made until the process is completed,” the organizers at Hollywood Reporter said recently.
EBU said that “understands the concerns and deeply rooted views about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East”, but its members continue to “gather views on how we manage participation and the geopolitical tensions Around the Eurovision Song Contest. “
According to the Union, broadcasters are deadline by mid -December to confirm whether they wish to participate in the next year’s event in Vienna.
“It is up to each member to decide whether they want to participate in the competition and we will respect any decision made by the broadcasters,” the organizers said.
Source :Skai
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