After a break, representatives from Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova will again take part in the competition.
The Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland refused to participate in the competition.
Thus, the list of participating countries looks like this:
Context
“Eurovision 2026” will take place in the Austrian capital Vienna. The competition will take place in Wiener Stadthalle (Vienna City Hall). The first semi-final of the competition is scheduled for May 12, the second – for May 14, and the grand final will take place on May 16.
The European Broadcasting Union on December 4, despite discussions and calls for a boycott from many member countries, admitted Israeli representatives to the competition.
Immediately after this announcement, Dutch, Spanish, Slovenian and Irish broadcasters withdrew from the competition. The BBC writes that public broadcasters in these countries face constant pressure from local musicians' and composers' unions, who are calling for a complete boycott of Israel.
Despite this pressure, the EBU leadership declared “broad support” for its decisions by the majority of the union's members, thus “rejecting the demands of the opposition bloc of countries.”
At the same time, the German public broadcaster expressed support for Israel.
