SYRIZA-PS made an official demand to withdraw Greece from the competition Eurovision 2026 in protest against participation Israel. The reason was the decisions of five countries – Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Netherlands And Iceland — who have already announced their refusal to participate in the competition.
The party statement said: “While a number of European countries – Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia – are withdrawing from the upcoming Eurovision 2026 competition in protest against Israel’s participation, the Mitsotakis government has stubbornly refused to take a similar step.”
The party criticizes Athens’ foreign policy, stating: “The government must immediately abandon the doctrine of “strategic ally” with the murderous Netanyahu regime, which is committing genocide in Gaza. Basic respect for the Palestinian people and their suffering requires Greece to distance itself from the decision of the European Broadcasting Union, which opened the way for Israeli participation, and to withdraw ERT from the competition.”
The dispute has already taken on a clearly political character: the opposition accuses the authorities of “moral and diplomatic blindness”, while the government prefers to remain silent amid the EBU’s decision to allow Israel to participate.
The list of countries ready to refuse to participate in the competition continues to expand. Public broadcasters in several states have said they will not take part in the show if Israel is admitted. Amid growing international pressure Wikileaks reported that the competition is “falling apart before our eyes”: Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia have already announced a boycott, and Iceland is making a decision in the coming hours. Meanwhile, the popular Icelandic singer Björk publicly called on her country to join the boycott.
Previously reported
On December 4, the General Assembly took place in Geneva European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia have demanded a secret vote on Israel’s admission in 2026, according to Reuters. The reason was suspicions that Israel manipulated the voting system at Eurovision 2025 in favor of the singer Yuval Rafaelsurvivor of a Hamas attack at the festival Nova in 2023.
A number of competition participants said that Israel violated the rules of political neutrality, and also pointed to the war in Gaza as a factor incompatible with the country’s participation in an international cultural project. Some delegations threatened to boycott the 2026 competition.
However, the position within the union turned out to be heterogeneous: Germanyone of the largest sponsors of Eurovision, stated that it would not participate in the competition if Israel, on the contrary, was excluded.
In the end EBU refused to vote, announcing new rules that would supposedly prevent states from interfering in the competition. President of Israel Isaac Herzog called the decision “a gesture of solidarity and cooperation,” noting that it symbolizes “victory over attempts to silence Israel.”
Thus, Eurovision, traditionally perceived as a space outside of politics, found itself involved in one of the most acute international conflicts. The fate of the competition now directly depends on the decisions of several governments, and the cultural project has actually turned into an instrument of diplomatic pressure.
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