Austria, a country host country in 2026, regretted the calls of several European countries in the boycott if Israel participates in the next edition.
“Cultural boycots are stupid and vain, they do not move forward,” said the Secretary of State for Foreign and European Affairs Sepp Schellhorn to the Kurier Austrian newspaper on Thursday night.
Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands have announced that they would not send a representative in the competition in Vienna next May, if Israel is authorized to participate.
Accusations of interference
The Association of Dutch public audiovisuals had justified its decision for the “serious violations of press freedom” committed by the Israelis in Gaza. It also accuses Israel of having committed a “interference proven during the last edition, involving the political instrumentalization of the event.”
The Israeli singer and survivor of the attack of October 7, Yuval Raphael, had arrived second in the 2025 competition, carried by the public vote.
“These countries are democracies. If one of our neighbors decides not to participate, then Austria must take note,” Mr. Schellhorn wrote.
But giving in to pressures or blackmail would be a “mistake,” he added.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry, which was not accessible on Friday, said, according to Kurier, that he was going to send a letter to his European counterparts to advise against boycott.
“It is above all a competition between musicians and artists. And mixing their role with the policy of a country seems extremely problematic,” said Mr. Schellhorn.
An internal “dialogue”
During its last general meeting in July, the European Radio-Television Union (URU), owner and manager of Eurovision, had decided to launch an internal “dialogue”.
“We understand concerns and opinions (…) about the current conflict in the Middle East,” said competition director Martin Green last week.
Recommendations are expected for the end of the year. The UUr celebrates its next general assembly in December. It is also at the end of 2025 that the various member countries will have to decide on their participation.
Eurovision is regularly the geopolitical opposition scene. Russia was excluded after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Bélarus was a year before after the disputed re -election of President Alexandre Loukachenko.
Source: BFM TV
