Following the controversial vote held at the EBU’s General Assembly, the union has issued an official statement in response to the division.
Statement says discussions are “ill-informed”
The EBU issued the statement after it was confirmed that Iceland would join Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain to boycott next year’s competition. This, coupled with ongoing discussions from broadcasters, news outlets and fans has led the statement to be published on Thursday (December 11th).
The full statement, published by the EBU reads:
In the wake of the recent General Assembly discussion on the Eurovision Song Contest, several EBU Members have been criticized for the position they took in the debate.
While public service media is always open to criticism and critique, the EBU feels that some of the attacks on our Members – on both sides of the argument – have been completely inaccurate and ill-informed.
The debate on the Eurovision Song Contest was respectful and articulate. Members expressing their opinions were reflecting their own and their audience views on this difficult issue, not those of any political perspective or political party.
The EBU respects the right of Members to make an individual decision on participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, whatever that decision.
We look forward to working with those taking part in Vienna and hope that those important Members who will not participate in 2026 will be back in the Eurovision Song Contest very soon. We will continue to work with them to try to achieve this.
The EBU also confirmed that following the vote last week, the deadline to confirm participation for next year’s competition has passed. As a result, the full list of participating countries will be revealed next week.
The story of Eurovision 2026 so far
The journey to the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest kicked off immediately following JJ’s win in Basel, when Austria’s ORF accepted the rights to host the 70th edition of the contest. The bidding process started in June, with interested cities having until July 4 to submit their bid book. Innsbruck and Vienna were shortlisted, with the latter winning the right to host next year’s contest.
As for the organisation of the competition, the ‘core team‘ was revealed in June 2025, with further details about next year’s competition to be revealed in due course. The shows will take place on May 12th, 14th and 16th.
What do you make of the EBU’s statement? Do you think this will calm tensions? 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: EBU
Photo Credit: EBU
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