EBU’s Rare Exceptions: Why Some Countries Are Barred from Eurovision Participation

EBU very exceptionally refuses the participation of countries. The organization of broadcasters emphasizes the “non-political nature of the competition”. A few years ago, the EBU made an exception for Russia due to the war in Ukraine. That was unprecedented at the time.

“The exclusion of Russia was not obvious and partly came about after pressure from other Eurovision countries,” says Paelinck. “At the same time, the situation was somewhat different than now with Israel. Then an EBU country had invaded another EBU country.”

“An exclusion is very exceptional,” the Eurovision expert continues. “In the 1990s, what remained of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) were also not allowed to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest due to the civil war, but that was due to international sanctions from the United Nations that the EBU followed.”

2023-12-05 21:44:00
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