\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
New rules approved in 2024 “put the onus on the artists not to politicise the contest”, Eurovision historian Dean Vuletic told AFP, adding those who disobey the rule could face sanctions.<\/p>\n
– ‘Complex challenge’ –<\/p>\n
While Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania are returning to the Eurovision stage, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain will snub the contest this year in protest at Israel’s participation.<\/p>\n
More than 1,000 artists have also urged a boycott.<\/p>\n
Protesters are planning to mobilise outside the venue against the war in Gaza, where Israel launched a military offensive in retaliation for the October 7, 2023, attack carried out by Hamas on its territory.<\/p>\n
Among dozens of protesters who gathered last month in a Vienna rally, 67-year-old Ernst Wolrab told AFP he disagreed with this “international platform” being offered to the Israeli government to “legitimise” its actions.<\/p>\n
Hosting Eurovision is a “complex challenge,” Vienna’s deputy police chief Dieter Csefan told AFP as police prepared to protect the delegations and guard festivities held across the city.<\/p>\n
Austria, a central European country of 9.2 million people, already hosted the event 11 years ago, but the global situation has changed since then, added Csefan, who also cited a growing risk of cyberattacks.<\/p>\n
He said Austria was working closely with the FBI to address any cyber threats.<\/p>\n
He added that Vienna police had “experience in organising major events” as the Austrian capital — home to several international organisations — hosts many conferences.<\/p>\n
In 2024, American star Taylor Swift cancelled her concerts in Austria following a terror plot that was foiled with the help of US intelligence.<\/p>\n
For Eurovision, authorities have thoroughly vetted the profiles of some 16,000 staff involved, and equipment transported to the venue, the Stadthalle, has been meticulously scanned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With provocative songs and glittering performances, the Eurovision Song Contest’s festive 70th edition in Vienna next week will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20858],"tags":[1072,20859,20860],"class_list":{"0":"post-33459","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eurovision","8":"tag-afp","9":"tag-eurovision","10":"tag-eurovision-song-contest-2026"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}