The Netherlands will not participate in the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest because no broadcaster is willing to take responsibility for the Dutch entry, citing concerns about Israel's participation, broadcaster association NPO said on Tuesday.
Last month, NPO said it was confident the Netherlands would return to the contest next year after boycotting the 2026 edition, as it felt the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) had responded to criticism from countries that had not participated in 2026. AVROTROS, which had managed the Netherlands’ Eurovision participation for the past decade, announced in August that it would also sit out 2027.
AVROTROS said the contest “can no longer be considered neutral” while a participating country remains involved in a large-scale military conflict, and that recent EBU changes did not give it sufficient confidence that the contest’s independent and neutral character had been restored.
AVROTROS handed responsibility for Dutch Eurovision participation back to NPO, the umbrella body for Dutch public broadcasting, in August. Ultimately, no Dutch broadcaster was willing to facilitate the Dutch bid.
In its Sept. 23 announcement, NPO said the EBU had taken “significant steps” on the contest’s rules, some of which followed criticism and discussions raised by public broadcasters. According to Dutch news, NPO received dozens of complaints and around 400 staff members sent a letter urging the broadcaster to withdraw.
Past Eurovision contests
Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Slovenia, and the Netherlands all boycotted the most recent contest in May that took place in Vienna in protest at the participation of Israel and its military offensive in Gaza.
Bulgaria’s Dara won with “Bangaranga,” taking 516 points from the juries and public televote, while Israel finished runner-up for the second year in a row with 343 points.
The next annual Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Burgas, Bulgaria, from May 11 to 15, 2027.