Netherlands Eurovision Withdrawal Stuns Fans After Return Plan

The Netherlands will not send an entry to the Eurovision Song Contest next year. Public broadcasting umbrella NPO announced the decision on Tuesday, reversing a plan announced last month to bring the country back to the competition. The Associated Press reported that no Dutch broadcaster was willing to take responsibility for the entry, and the Netherlands Eurovision Withdrawal is the outcome of months of wrangling inside Dutch public broadcasting.

NPO is the umbrella organisation for public broadcasters in the Netherlands, coordinating programming across public television, radio and online services. Its media director, Jurre Bosman, said Israel's participation in the contest continues to stir debate and division in Dutch society and among broadcasters and their staff. Executive chair Jet de Ranitz said the organisation had initially believed there was enough support for a return, but talks with broadcasters failed to produce a workable arrangement for selecting and staging a Dutch act. NPO had planned to organise the return as a joint project between a number of the country's public broadcasters, with the umbrella organisation coordinating selection, coverage and commentary.

In a statement, de Ranitz said the organisation had concluded it was still too early to take part, and that sensitivities around the themes at play had prompted it to step back for the time being. NPO also acknowledged the decision would disappoint Dutch fans. The Netherlands Eurovision Withdrawal ends hopes of a quick comeback after the country sat out the most recent edition of the show.

Months of back and forth

The Netherlands Eurovision Withdrawal caps a turbulent stretch for Dutch Eurovision plans. AVROTROS, the broadcaster that had handled the Dutch entry for roughly a decade, announced in August that it would not take part, saying the contest could no longer be considered neutral while a competing nation was engaged in a large-scale military conflict. AVROTROS then handed responsibility for any Dutch participation back to NPO.

NPO stepped in the following month, saying the European Broadcasting Union had taken significant steps to answer criticism of the contest, and announced the Netherlands would return. The proposed comeback drew swift pushback. Dozens of complaints reached the public broadcasters' ombudsman, and around 400 NPO employees signed a letter urging the organisation to reconsider its participation.

That pressure, combined with the lack of a broadcaster willing to run the entry, left NPO without a route back to the stage, and sealed the Netherlands Eurovision Withdrawal. The umbrella organisation said it had held discussions with broadcasters to test whether any of them would facilitate participation, and found none prepared to do so. What began as a planned return therefore ended, within weeks, in a second withdrawal.

The contest goes on without a Dutch entry

The contest will still air on Dutch public channels, NPO said, so viewers in the Netherlands can follow the competition even without a home entry. The coming edition takes place in Bulgaria, after Bulgarian singer Dara won the most recent contest, according to the Associated Press. The 2027 contest will be the second edition in a row without Dutch participation following the Netherlands Eurovision Withdrawal.

Eurovision is an annual international music competition in which each participating country is represented by a singer, with the shows broadcast live across Europe and beyond. The Netherlands Eurovision Withdrawal means Dutch viewers will watch a contest with no act of their own to support, even as NPO keeps the broadcasts on air.

The Netherlands Eurovision Withdrawal extends a boycott movement that shaped the most recent contest. Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Slovenia and the Netherlands all sat out the edition held in May, in protest at Israel's participation and its military campaign in Gaza. Those countries had boycotted after organisers declined to remove Israel from the lineup over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza and violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Eurovision director Martin Green said he regretted the Netherlands Eurovision Withdrawal, but that the European Broadcasting Union understood and respected it, according to a report on the announcement. He said broadcasters should weigh the issues carefully and discuss them with their communities, while noting that the contest could bring people together through music and a shared experience.