"Austria had appealed to countries not to boycott next year's contest - due to be held in Vienna - over Israel's participation and concerns about the two-year-old Gaza conflict."
"The board agreed to put the issue on the agenda of its ordinary Winter General Assembly, which will be taking place in December," instead of the extraordinary meeting which had been slated to take place online in November, an EBU statement said."
"It said that following "recent developments in the Middle East" the Executive Board agreed today that there should be an in-person discussion among Members "on the issue of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.""
Austrian broadcaster ORF welcomed the EBU decision to defer the vote on Israel's participation in Eurovision 2026 and to hold an in-person discussion at the Winter General Assembly in December. Austria had appealed to countries not to boycott the contest, due to concerns about Israel's participation amid the two-year Gaza conflict. Several countries had pledged withdrawal if Israel took part. The EBU cited recent developments in the Middle East as the reason for replacing the planned online extraordinary meeting with an in-person session. The EBU did not clarify whether a vote on Israeli broadcaster KAN's participation would still take place. RTÉ said it would not screen or send an entry if Israel participates.
Read at Irish Independent
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