Unions at Belgium’s Flemish public broadcaster VRT are pressing management to reverse its Eurovision 2027 participation decision, linking their opposition to Israel’s continued participation and strike notices covering all three broadcasts.
The Dutch public broadcaster NPO announced it would not send an entry to the 2027 contest. ACOD-VRT backed the Netherlands’ decision to skip Eurovision 2027, saying Israel’s continued participation justified the withdrawal, Anadolu Agency reported.
Anadolu reported that Carlos Van Hoeymissen of ACV-VRT said the union could collect 500 employee signatures if doing so might lead VRT management to reconsider. He also said conversations with staff indicated that support for the broadcaster’s participation was limited.
VRT announced Sept. 23 that it would send a Belgian entrant to Bulgaria. The broadcaster said the European Broadcasting Union had taken meaningful steps on participation rules, voting and judging rules, sponsorship and contest organization, and that VRT wanted to remain involved in the process.
ACV-VRT and ACOD-VRT said they filed strike notices for May 11, 13 and 15, 2027, covering the semifinals and final. The unions said the notices were intended to protect employees with moral objections from contributing directly or indirectly to related programs and broadcasts. ACV-VRT said the prospect of the broadcasts not airing would not change its support for the notice.
