AVROTROS has confirmed that it will not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2027, extending its boycott of the competition for a second consecutive year.
In a statement released on Monday, the Dutch broadcaster said that the Eurovision Song Contest can “no longer be considered neutral”, arguing that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have had an increasingly significant impact on the competition and have contributed to deep divisions among participating broadcasters and the wider Eurovision community.
Over the past year, AVROTROS has repeatedly called on the European Broadcasting Union EBU to introduce transparent rules governing the participation of countries involved in military conflicts. However, the broadcaster says that the changes recently announced by the EBU do not provide sufficient confidence that the independent and neutral character of the Contest has been restored.
Participation is therefore no longer consistent with the values of AVROTROS: trustworthiness, independence and humanity
Continued opposition to Israel's participation
Although AVROTROS's statement does not name Israel directly in its opening explanation, the broadcaster's position follows its decision to withdraw from Eurovision 2026 over Israel's participation.
AVROTROS has previously cited the humanitarian situation in Gaza, restrictions on press freedom and what it described as political interference surrounding Eurovision as reasons why Israel's participation could no longer be reconciled with its public broadcasting values.
The broadcaster has again highlighted the humanitarian suffering in Gaza and restrictions on press freedom as factors contributing to the growing divisions surrounding Eurovision.
The issue has become one of the most contentious topics surrounding the Contest in recent years. In 2026, five countries — the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland — did not participate, with several of them explicitly linking their decisions to Israel's participation. The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest subsequently attracted around 131 million viewers, approximately 35 million fewer than the previous year's edition.
The controversy has also extended beyond broadcasters. More than 1,000 musicians and cultural professionals previously called on the EBU to take action over Israel's participation, while AVROTROS has argued that the continuing dispute demonstrates the need for a clear framework for determining when participation by a country involved in military conflict is compatible with Eurovision's claimed neutrality.
Netherlands' participation in 2027 remains uncertain
Despite AVROTROS's announcement, the Netherlands' participation in Eurovision 2027 is not necessarily ruled out.
AVROTROS is the broadcaster responsible for the Netherlands' Eurovision participation, but it has returned responsibility for the country's participation to the Dutch public broadcasting association, NPO. As a result, it remains possible that another Dutch public broadcaster could take responsibility for the country's entry and participation in the 2027 Contest.
For now, AVROTROS has made clear that it will not be involved in Eurovision 2027.
The decision means that the Netherlands will not return to the Contest under AVROTROS after its absence from the 2026 edition. It also represents another setback for the EBU as it attempts to address the growing political and institutional divisions surrounding Eurovision.
With AVROTROS now ruling out participation, attention will turn to the NPO and whether another Dutch broadcaster will ultimately step forward to represent the Netherlands in Burgas.
