![\"Essyla](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5eb9756936ea1648ac850c5c789e659b.jpeg\"\/)
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Essyla represented Belgium at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest HANNIBAL HANSCHKE\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
Belgium has suggested it could become the sixth country to withdraw<\/a> from the Eurovision Song Contest due to Israel\u2019s involvement.<\/p>\n In the lead-up to this year\u2019s event, five countries\u2019 national broadcasters announced<\/a> they would not be competing at Eurovision in 2026 in protest over the decision to allow Israel to return.<\/p>\n On Saturday evening, the Belgian broadcaster VRT said it was not looking likely that it would be taking part in the contest next year if the situation remains as it currently is.<\/p>\n In a statement posted on VRT\u2019s website<\/a>, spokesperson Yasmin Van der Borcht said: \u201cToday, the chances are slim that VRT will send an artist next year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect a strong message from the [European Broadcasting Union, the group of broadcasters which organises Eurovision every year] against war and violence and in favour of respect for human rights. These are the values that should unite the festival, and at the moment they are being overshadowed far too much.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued: \u201cWe are asking for a clear framework for participation, an open debate, and a direct vote among EBU members. So far, we have received an insufficient response to this. Even during the semi-finals this week, we received no signal that the EBU is hearing our concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cNaturally, we want to discuss this with other broadcasters. But if the EBU\u2019s position does not change, the chances are slim that VRT will send an artist next year.\u201d<\/p>\n HuffPost UK has contacted Eurovision for comment.<\/p>\n Israeli performer Noam Bettan pictured during the Eurovision 2026 final via Associated Press<\/p>\n It should be noted that Belgium has two national broadcasters \u2013 the Francophone RTBF and the Flemish-speaking VRT \u2013 which alternate organising Eurovision each year.<\/p>\n This year, it was RTBF\u2019s turn, with VRT having said last year<\/a> that it \u201cshares and supports the position of the countries that have withdrawn from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest\u201d.<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s live final saw Israel finishing in second place for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n However, it was Bulgaria\u2019s Dara who wound up lifting the Eurovision trophy, marking the country\u2019s first ever win at the contest.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, UK viewing figures for Eurovision dipped for the third consecutive year<\/a>, amid growing calls for a boycott of the event in solidarity with Palestine<\/a>.<\/p>\n MORE EUROVISION:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Essyla represented Belgium at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest HANNIBAL HANSCHKE\/EPA\/Shutterstock Belgium has suggested it could become the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,2239,3165,10595,1957],"class_list":["post-16074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgium","tag-eurovision-song-contest","tag-israel","tag-national-broadcasters","tag-vrt"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116594938075112391","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Israeli](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b8f156160d94b08bf8d5cf3885214393.jpeg\"\/)
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