{"id":536621,"date":"2026-04-25T15:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T12:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=536621"},"modified":"2026-04-26T08:34:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T05:34:01","slug":"does-music-no-longer-unite-slovenia-boycotts-eurovision-2026-after-call-by-global-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/does-music-no-longer-unite-slovenia-boycotts-eurovision-2026-after-call-by-global-stars","title":{"rendered":"Does Music No Longer Unite? Slovenia Boycotts Eurovision 2026 After Call by Global Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The 70th anniversary Eurovision Song Contest is facing a major political boycott. As Euronews<\/a> reports, Slovenia has become the third country to take a radical step: not only refusing to send its artist to Vienna, but also declining to broadcast the show altogether. This comes just days after thousands of global stars issued an open call for a boycott.<\/p>\n

Timeline of the Protest: From Letter to Programming Shift<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The decision by Slovenia\u2019s national broadcaster (RTV Slovenia) followed mounting pressure from the international cultural community. Last week, thousands of artists, including Massive Attack<\/b>, Brian Eno<\/b>, Sigur R\u00f3s<\/b> and Mogwai<\/b>, signed an open letter initiated by the \u201cNo Music for Genocide\u201d movement.<\/p>\n

In their statement, the musicians directly addressed audiences:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, musicians and cultural figures, reject attempts to use Eurovision to whitewash and normalise genocide, siege and the brutal military occupation carried out by Israel against Palestinians… We express solidarity with calls to boycott the contest until the EBU excludes the Israeli broadcaster KAN.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Following this appeal, RTV Slovenia director Ksenija Horvat<\/b> announced that the country would not air Eurovision. Instead of the music show, the channel will broadcast a cycle titled \u201cVoices of Palestine\u201d, featuring documentary and fiction films.<\/p>\n

Arguments of the Sides: \u201cDouble Standards\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to countries supporting the boycott, the main grievance lies in what they describe as the organisers\u2019 \u201cdouble standards\u201d. As Euronews notes, critics compare the situation to Russia\u2019s exclusion from the contest in 2022 and argue that allowing Israel to participate contradicts the values of \u201cunity through music\u201d.<\/p>\n

For its part, Israel has consistently rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza. However, opponents cite findings by a UN commission (September 2025), which have further fuelled the protests.<\/p>\n

Scale of the Boycott<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At present, the configuration of the boycott is as follows:<\/p>\n

Slovenia, Ireland and Spain \u2014 complete refusal to participate and broadcast (for Spain\u2019s RTVE, this is the first such case since 1961).<\/p>\n

The Netherlands and Iceland \u2014 refusal to send artists, but maintaining broadcast coverage.<\/p>\n

Despite the unprecedented controversy, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) plans to hold the contest with the participation of 35 countries. The final is scheduled for May 16, 2026, in Vienna.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to Reform.news cultural updates<\/a> on Telegram<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 70th anniversary Eurovision Song Contest is facing a major political boycott. As Euronews reports, Slovenia has become the third country to take a radical step: not only refusing to send its artist to Vienna, but also declining to broadcast the show altogether. This comes just days after thousands of global stars issued an open […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":536620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69eda3cc3ebbb.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Does Music No Longer Unite? Slovenia Boycotts Eurovision 2026 After Call by Global Stars"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142375,142338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-536621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-news"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}