The list of the 35 countries that have confirmed their participation in the competition in Vienna in May 2006 will be published on the competition's official social media.
This means that the countries that have previously announced that they will boycott the competition if Israel is allowed to participate are the only ones who will not participate: Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain.
At the competition in Basel earlier this year, 37 countries competed. New countries joining the competition next year are Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania.
In early December, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) voted through new voting rules to “increase trust, transparency and audience engagement” in the contest. At the same time, it was made clear that Israel – whose participation is controversial due to the war in Gaza – will be allowed to participate.
Israel's participation has been strongly questioned since the Hamas terrorist attack in the country on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza. For Sweden, SVT has not wanted to answer the question of whether they want Israel to compete, but SVT's CEO Anne Lagercrantz has previously regretted that Eurovision has become so politically charged. "We do not take a political position," she said in September.
