The European Broadcasting Union, which unites public broadcasters, has allowed Israel to participate in the "Eurovision 2026" international song contest.
According to Medianews.az, following the decision made on December 4, it has been confirmed that Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Slovenia will boycott the contest. The public broadcasting organizations of these countries had demanded that Israel not be allowed to participate in "Eurovision 2026".
Since the autumn of 2023, Israel has conducted bloody military operations in the Gaza region of Palestine. A portion of the world community claims that Palestinians have been subjected to genocide.
By December 5, 32 countries have confirmed their participation in "Eurovision 2026": Albania, Germany, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Croatia, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Ukraine, Greece.
The contest, which will be hosted in Vienna, the capital of Austria, has its first semi-final scheduled for May 12, the second semi-final for May 14, and the final on May 16.
The "Eurovision" contest, held since 1956, is a project of the European Broadcasting Union. In the 69 editions held, Ireland and Sweden have won 7 times; the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, and Great Britain 5 times; Israel 4 times; Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Austria, Norway, and Ukraine 3 times; Spain and Germany 2 times; and Monaco, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Estonia, Latvia, Turkey, Greece, Finland, Serbia, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Portugal each once.
Azerbaijan has participated in 17 contests, achieving 8th place in 2008 with Elnur Huseynov and Samir Javadzade, 3rd place in 2009 with Aysel Teymurzade and Arash, 5th place in 2010 with Safura Alizade, 1st place in 2011 with Nigar Jamal and Eldar Gasimov, 4th place in 2012 with Sabina Babayeva, 2nd place in 2013 with Farid Mammadov, 22nd place in 2014 with Dilara Kazimova, 12th place in 2015 with Elnur Huseynov, 17th place in 2016 with Samra Rahimli, 14th place in 2017 with Diana Hajiyeva, 8th place in 2019 with Chingiz Mustafayev, 20th place in 2021 with Samira Efendi, and 16th place in 2022 with Nadir Rustamli.
In 2018, Aysel Mammadova, in 2023, Tural and Turan Bagmanov, in 2024, Fakhri Ismayilov and Ilkin Dovlatov, and in 2025, the group "Mamaqama" did not pass the semi-finals.