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No plan for Poland to snub next year's Eurovision song contest, state TV says

10.12.2025 18:00
Poland will take part in next year's Eurovision Song Contest, even as several other countries have said they will boycott the event over Israel's inclusion, state broadcaster TVP said on Wednesday.
A rehearsal for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malm, Sweden.
A rehearsal for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden.Photo: Wojciech Pędzich, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs the annual competition, said an overwhelming majority of its members agreed the contest should remain a "uniting celebration of music and art."

While "some members won't participate in 2026, we're expecting some 35 participating broadcasters," it added.

TVP said in a statement it was aware of the "scale of tensions" surrounding the event and understood "the emotions and anxieties."

Still, it said it believes Eurovision "has a chance to once again become a space filled with music—and music only."

Israel’s participation has drawn controversy due to the war in the Gaza Strip.

Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia have said they will boycott the contest after the EBU decided Israel would be allowed to take part, according to Polish state news agency PAP.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250, including children.

Israel launched a military campaign in response that has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to reports.

Eurovision regularly includes several non-European participants, such as Armenia and Australia. EBU members are drawn from the European Broadcasting Area, which extends beyond Europe.

Austria and Germany strongly supported Israel’s inclusion in the 2026 contest and threatened to boycott if Israel were barred.

The 70th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in May in Vienna, with semifinals on May 12 and 14 and the final on May 16 at the Wiener Stadthalle.

Vienna previously hosted the contest in 1967 and 2015.

This year’s contest took place in Basel, Switzerland, where Austria's Johannes “JJ” Pietsch won with his ballad Wasted Love.

Poland’s Justyna Steczkowska finished 14th.

The event was first held in Lugano, Switzerland, in 1956.

(pm/gs)

Source PAP, ebu.ch