Slovenia’s national broadcaster RTV Slovenia has confirmed it will not air the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, joining a widening boycott over Israel’s participation.
RTV director Ksenija Horvat said the broadcaster would instead schedule programming focused on Palestine.
“We will not be broadcasting the Eurovision song contest,” she said, confirming a full blackout.
Horvat added that the channel would instead air “Voices of Palestine,” a collection of documentaries and feature films.
In total, five countries have now withdrawn from participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026: Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland. Of these, Ireland, Spain and Slovenia have also confirmed they will not broadcast the contest, amounting to a full boycott, while the Netherlands and Iceland are still expected to air the event domestically despite not competing.
The boycott stems from criticism of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for allowing Israel to compete amid the ongoing war in Gaza. The EBU has not publicly responded to the latest decisions by participating broadcasters.
Despite the withdrawals, the contest - marking Eurovision’s 70th anniversary - is set to proceed in Vienna from 12 to 16 May, with 35 countries expected to compete.
The Eurovision Song Contest, long promoted under the slogan “United by Music”, has increasingly struggled to avoid political controversy. Organisers have introduced new rules this year aimed at limiting external influence on voting and promotion.
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