As the controversy surrounding Eurovision 2025 continues, Dutch broadcasters have issued a statement surrounding Israeli participation in the Contest.
Dutch broadcasters unite for statement
In a statement released through their Instagram page, Dutch broadcasters NPO and AVROTROS jointly called for the removal of Israel from the competition.
The broadcasters’ statement read:
AVROTROS and the NPO strongly believe in the apolitical and connecting value of the Eurovision Song Contest. However, we see that the event is increasingly influenced by social and geopolitical tensions.
Israel’s participation confronts us with the question to what extent the Eurovision Song Contest still functions as an apolitical, connecting and cultural event. We want to make this question a topic of discussion within the EBU, together with other countries.
Both Dutch broadcasters are one of several to raise questions surrounding the transparency of the Contest following Basel 2025. A number of other broadcasters, including RTVE in Spain and RTV SLO in Slovenia have echoed calls for the exclusion of Israel, after their second-place finish. Meanwhile, other broadcasters such as RÚV, RTÉ and Yle have demanded further clarity surrounding the televoting data of the Contest.
The Netherlands’ Eurovision journey
The Netherlands are one of the founding countries of the ESC, having performed the very first song ever on the Eurovision stage back in 1956. While the result of “De Vogels van Holland” is unknown, the Netherlands have garnered 5 wins, with their most recent in 2019. However the Netherlands are also known to have had the longest ever non qualification streak in the semi-final era – they missed out on the final a whopping 8 times between 2005 and 2012.
Claude represented the Netherlands in 2025 with the song “C’est La Vie”. Competing in the first semi-final, he eventually qualified for the final in Basel. In the final, the Netherlands would eventually finish in 12th place with 175 points. 133 of these points came from the juries, while the remaining 42 came from the televote.
What do you make of the remarks by the Dutch broadcasters? Will the EBU listen to the growing calls? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2026!
News Source: AVROTROS
Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming / EBU
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