AVROTROS, the Dutch public radio and television association that is part of NPO, has announced that it will not participate in Eurovision 2027. In 2026 this country was already left out—like Spain—due to Israel’s participation, and that could happen again in 2027.
In recent weeks there have been movements within Eurovision’s organization regarding the rules, and a country at war will no longer be able to host the contest; and regarding sponsorship, Moroccanoil has terminated its agreement with the festival.
However, this is not sufficient for the Dutch institution, which contends that “the event can no longer be considered neutral given a participating country that remains involved in a large-scale military conflict.”
Nevertheless, as Eurovision Spain explains, the NPO could turn to another Dutch public broadcaster to maintain the country’s participation. In other words, the NPO still has to decide whether the Netherlands withdraws from the contest or participates in another way. For now, they have merely stated: “We also see that geopolitical tensions have a divisive effect. Therefore, this has not been an easy decision for our AVROTROS colleagues. We will reflect on the next edition and revisit it at the appropriate time.”
For now, 21 countries have confirmed their participation in Eurovision, which will be held from May 11 to May 15, 2027 in Bulgaria. Among them is Israel, and also Canada, which makes its debut in Eurovision. The provisional list of participants and of countries in doubt is continually updated on the English-language Wikipedia.
