The Netherlands will take part in the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest after public broadcaster NPO took over the country’s participation from Avrotros, which had announced a boycott.
Dutch public broadcaster NPO will now be responsible for the Dutch entry in next year’s contest. DR reports the decision, citing the news agency Reuters. Until now, the Dutch broadcaster Avrotros handled the country’s participation.
Avrotros announced in August 2026 that it would boycott next year’s contest. The broadcaster pointed to the humanitarian situation in Gaza and to continuing restrictions on press freedom. According to Avrotros, the contest can no longer be seen as neutral while a participating country remains involved in a large-scale military conflict.
Reuters reports that Avrotros left the final participation decision to other Dutch broadcasters. As noted by Eurovoix, NPO is assembling an independent team that will select and support the Dutch entrant. Broadcaster NOS will show the live programs.
NPO believes the European Broadcasting Union has taken significant steps regarding the contest’s rules, according to Eurovisionworld. NPO also acknowledges that the competition stirs mixed feelings in the Netherlands. The broadcaster says it has explicitly asked the EBU to restore the event’s unifying character.
Deadline extension
NL Times reports that NPO received a special extension until the end of September. The EBU’s original deadline for confirming participation was September 15. The 2027 contest will be held in the Bulgarian seaside city of Burgas in May 2027.
The EBU announced several rule changes in August 2026. A winning broadcaster will automatically be ineligible to host if an armed conflict, a sensitive geopolitical situation or another situation significantly affects safety, security or stability in the country. In such cases, the EBU will appoint an alternative host broadcaster.
Those changes did not give Avrotros sufficient confidence that the contest’s independent and neutral character had been restored. The broadcaster said the competition in its current form is not compatible with its three values of credibility, independence and compassion.
The EBU has previously stated that Israel’s public service broadcaster KAN complies with the rules for participation. The organizer has added that the contest is a competition between public service broadcasters, not governments. Slovenia, Spain and Iceland joined the Netherlands and Ireland in boycotting this year’s contest, which was held in Vienna.
The Netherlands helped create Eurovision in 1956 together with Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium and Switzerland. Denmark made its debut the following year. The Netherlands has won the contest five times, most recently in 2019, and last competed in 2025 with Claude and the song “C’est la vie”.
