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The organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest announced a rules change on Wednesday excluding any country in an armed conflict from hosting the competition.
Eurovision is organised each year by the broadcaster from the country that won the previous edition and is a co-production of public broadcasters belonging to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Under the new rules, “the winning broadcaster will automatically be ineligible to host the Contest if an armed conflict, a sensitive geopolitical situation, or any other situation materially affects the security, safety or stability of their state or immediate region”, the EBU said in a statement.
As the EBU includes members from outside Europe, the contest is not limited to European countries.
The EBU said it could commission an independent security assessment before deciding whether a winning country is capable of hosting the event safely.
The statement did not mention any country by name, but Israel came close to winning the competition in both 2025 and 2026, ultimately finishing second on each occasion.
Five countries, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland, boycotted the 2026 edition in Vienna, a first for the contest.
They said they could not take part alongside Israel because of its war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.
If a winning country is found unable to host the contest, the EBU will appoint another host nation.
Under the new rules, that country will organise the concert “in its own right” and “will not be required to stage the event on behalf of another Member.”
Ukraine hosted Eurovision in 2017 despite its ongoing conflict in the country’s east between Ukrainian forces and Moscow-backed separatists.
But after Ukraine won the contest in 2022, it was unable to host the following year’s edition because of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Eurovision 2023 was instead held in Liverpool in the United Kingdom on Ukraine’s behalf.
Additional sources • AFP