Slovenia to air films about Palestine instead of Eurovision song contest | Eurovision
National broadcasters in Ireland, Spain and Slovenia will not broadcast the Eurovision song contest this year after deciding to boycott the event due to Israel’s participation.
Slovenian broadcaster RTV, which had already announced that it would not submit a national application, confirmed on Thursday that it would enforce a broadcast ban on the world’s biggest live music event and instead show a series of films about Palestine.
“We will not broadcast the Eurovision song contest,” Ksenija Horvat, director of RTV Slovenia, told the Associated Press. “We will release the ‘Voices of Palestine’ film series, which includes Palestinian documentaries and feature films.”
Spain’s RTVE last week reiterated its decision not to broadcast Eurovision; This marks the first time the musical extravaganza will not be shown on Spanish television since the country began participating in 1961. Ireland’s public broadcaster RTÉ He announced last December that he would not broadcast or appear at the event.
Holland and Iceland also withdrew from the event last December, but the competition will be shown on the respective national broadcasters NPO and RÚV.
35 countries will participate in this year’s competition, which is the 70th anniversary of Eurovision, and is planned to be held in Vienna, the capital of Austria, between 12-16 May.
Their withdrawal followed a decision by the organizing body, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), to allow Israel to compete despite criticism of its conduct in the war in Gaza.
Slovenian prime minister Robert Golob, who was re-elected in a tight election this March, has been a vocal critic of Israel’s war, and in August 2025 his government announced a ban on imports of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of its response to “the Israeli government’s policy that undermines hopes for lasting peace.”
The Eurovision contest, held under the slogan “Unity through Music”, tries to put pop music ahead of politics but has repeatedly struggled to keep global turmoil off the stage. Russia has been banned from participating since 2022 following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The war in Gaza created waves of unrest through the song contest; organizers reacted to protests outside venues by banning the waving of political flags.
This year’s edition will introduce new rules designed to prevent governments and third parties from promoting songs to influence voters.
Some countries expressed concerns about improper promotion methods after Israel came first in the public vote in the competition in May and ranked second in the general classification after the jury votes were taken into account.
