Austria’s public broadcaster—which hosts the next Eurovision contest—said it hoped for a compromise on Israel’s participation in the TV extravaganza ahead of a vote next month.
ORF director general Roland Weissmann said he carried out “intense work” to convince his foreign counterparts to come to Vienna next May for the contest, telling reporters “honestly, this is the time for diplomacy.”
A growing number of countries have threatened to boycott the 2026 edition of the world’s largest live music television event—unless Israel is excluded over the war in Gaza. Spain said it would boycott next year’s event if Israel took part. Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Slovenia have made similar threats. Other countries such as Belgium, Finland, and Sweden have also been considering a boycott.
Sepp Schellhorn, a senior Austrian foreign ministry official, has slammed the boycott calls as “dumb and pointless,” while Germany has also accused the countries behind the push of politicising a cultural event.
The previous instance of the song contest getting political was when Russia was excluded, following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while Belarus had been excluded a year earlier after the contested re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.
Eurovision’s organisers the European Broadcasting Union announced last month that Israel’s participation would be dealt with at its regular gathering in December.
