Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker firmly rejects any suggestion of banning Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest as his country prepares to host the next edition of the competition in 2026.
“I would consider it a fatal mistake to exclude Israel,” Stocker is quoted as saying in an interview with German news agency dpa published today, Austria’s National Day. “Based on our history alone, I would never be in favor of that,” he adds, in reference to Austria’s shared responsibility for crimes committed during the Holocaust.
The public broadcasters of some European countries, including Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands have pledged to withdraw if Israel takes part in the contest to be held in Vienna next May, citing its actions during the two-year war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the terror group’s massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Eurovision Song Contest organizers scrapped a planned November meeting to vote on Israel’s participation in the wake of the ceasefire announced earlier this month, and are now set to consider the issue in December.
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