Canada in Eurovision, Ireland and the Netherlands stay away over Israel - TimesLIVE

Canada will make its Eurovision debut alongside at least 35 other countries at next year’s contest, organisers said on Wednesday, with Ireland and the Netherlands boycotting over Israel’s participation and Spain, Slovenia and Iceland still to announce.

Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia boycotted this year’s contest, which drew a global audience of 130-million, after calling for Israel’s expulsion over its military offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 2023. Israel said at the time there was a global smear campaign against it.

RTVE in Spain and RTVSLO in Slovenia have until December to confirm, the EBU said. At the end of September, the board of Iceland’s public broadcaster RÚV signalled its participation was unlikely but has not made a final decision

Apart from newcomer Canada, the contest lineup includes North Macedonia, which returns to the competition for the first time since 2022, host Bulgaria, France, Britain, Ukraine and Australia.