The Francophone public broadcaster RTBF has confirmed that it will be sending an act to compete at next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in the Austrian capital Vienna. The artist that RTBF will send to Vienna has yet to be selected. Meanwhile, the VRT has already said that it plans to broadcast the contest that will take place next May. RTBF and VRT take turns in sending a candidate to the Eurovision Song Contest. Next year it is the turn of RTBF to do so.
In a statement RTBF said its participation is linked to a “clear stance” on the protection of civilians and journalists in Gaza. RTBF’s Director-General Jean-Paul Philippot wrote to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to call for safeguards for journalists and civilians and also to denounce restrictions on freedom of information.
The announcement from comes as a growing number of European public broadcasters announce that they are pulling out of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest because Israel is being allowed to compete in 2026. The Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, Ireland’s RTE, Slovenia’s RTVSLO and the Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS have all confirmed that they will not be sending an act to compete in Vienna. They cite the humanitarian situation in Gaza, concerns about press freedom and what they describe as political interference in last year’s contest as reasons for their decision to stay away.
In Belgium, political pressure is also mounting. Opposition politicians from the Francophone greens and far-left PTB-PVDA have called for a national boycott. They argue the EBU’s position on Israel contradicts European values and international law.
Reactions from politicians
In Belgium, political pressure is also mounting. Opposition politicians from the Francophone greens and far-left PTB-PVDA have called for a national boycott. They argue the EBU’s position on Israel contradicts European values and international law. Flemish politicians too have also voiced criticism. The Flemish socialist MP Katia Segers has suggested that VRT would be “better not broadcasting” the contest if Israel participates. The leader of the Flemish Christian democrats Sammy Mahdi has labelled the decision to compete “ridiculous” and says that Belgium should withdraw. The Flemish Media Minister Cieltje Van Achter (nationalist) says that the EBU “has handled the whole situation badly”, but “it is not up to politicians to decide what the VRT can broadcast”.
Israel’s participation was approved on Thursday after a secret vote within the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The EBU has introduced new voting rules for the contest. These include stricter limits on televoting and the return of jury votes in the semi-finals.