Netherlands to stay away from Eurovision Song Contest after all

The Netherlands will not take part in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest after public broadcaster NPO said there was “not enough support” for sending an act.

The decision reverses a previous U-turn after AVROTROS, the broadcasting company that is usually responsible for the Dutch entry, said it would boycott the contest for a second year in 2027 because of Israel’s continued participation.

NPO said last month it would make alternative arrangements to participate in the contest in the Bulgarian coastal city of Burgas next May.

But on Tuesday Jet de Ranitz, chair of NPO’s board of directors, said after holding talks with networks and staff that there was “not enough support” for a Dutch entry.

AVROTROS said in September it would be staying away until “transparent rules” were drawn up on countries involved in military conflicts to restore the “neutrality” of the event.

The Netherlands was one of five countries not to send an entry last year, but news broadcaster NOS still sent a team to cover the event and will do so again next year. Ireland has also said it will continue its boycott in 2027 and is not broadcasting the contest.

Staff critical

Around 500 NPO employees signed a letter a week ago criticising the broadcaster’s decision to look for a replacement for AVROTROS, saying that “the desire to take part in an entertainment programme is considered more important than the countless lives of people who are being murdered.”

De Ranitz did not directly mention Israel’s participation, but said NPO had concluded after consulting broadcasting licence holders that “it is too early at the moment to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest”.

“Because of the sensitivities around the issues that are taking place now, we have decided to step aside for now,” she said.

NPO is in charge of the Dutch broadcasting infrastructure, but programmes are made by autonomous licensed companies.

The European Broadcasting Union, which organises the song contest, said it regretted NPO’s decision. It said it recognised the “deep-rooted and genuine opinions about the song contest and that they vary strongly”, but argued the event was an opportunity to bring unity to a “divided world”.

Culture minister Rianne Letschert said NPO had made an “editorial decision” and it was not her place to intervene.

“The song contest is an event that touches many people and understandably gives rise to widely differing opinions,” she said. “I understand that none of the broadcasters are prepared to take over the entry for the song festival for 2027.”