Dutch Broadcaster Avrotros Exits 2027 Eurovision Over Israel's Participation

Dutch public broadcaster Avrotros announced on Monday its withdrawal from the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, stating that Israel's participation undermined the event's neutrality.

Avrotros cited severe humanitarian suffering in Gaza and the ongoing restrictions on press freedom as reasons, asserting the contest can no longer be considered neutral, with a participating country still involved in a large-scale military conflict. This marks the second consecutive year Avrotros has pulled out over Israel's involvement. The broadcaster returned responsibility for Dutch participation to the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO), the coordinating body for public broadcasters in the Netherlands, which could assign another broadcaster.

The 2027 event is scheduled for Burgas, Bulgaria. In 2026, the Netherlands was absent after Avrotros withdrew and NPO did not identify another broadcaster. The 2026 contest in Vienna included 35 countries, with Israel and Australia being the non-European participants. Spain, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia also boycotted the 2026 event. The competition was viewed by 131 million people, a decrease of 35 million from the previous year.

Thousands of protesters attended the 2026 event in Vienna, and over 1,000 artists signed an open letter calling for a boycott. Boycotters accuse the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which owns the contest, of a double standard for allowing Israel while banning Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Avrotros Director-General Taco Zimmerman called for transparent rules on countries involved in military conflicts to restore the event's neutrality.

The EBU changed its rules to ban winning countries from hosting if involved in a sensitive geopolitical situation, but Avrotros said this did not go far enough.