DR, the Danish national broadcaster, has released a statement regarding the upcoming Eurovison Song Contest in Austria.
In the wake of the current geopolitical scenario in the Middle East and the wave of European broadcasters raising concerns regarding Israel’s participation at ESC 2026 and several countries threatening to withdraw from the competition given the circumstances, the Danish national broadcaster has released a statement regarding its current position regarding its participation.
Denmark will compete at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest 2026 but its participation is conditional: three specific conditions have to be met, if not it will have to reconsider its ESC participation: strong international community, security in place and apolitical framework around the competition.
DR’s statement reads:
DR supports ESC as a cultural event that has brought nations together through music since 1956. Our participation is conditional on there still being a strong international community, security in place and an apolitical framework around the competition.
Gustav Lützhøft ( Senior editor of DR Culture, Debate and Music) gave the following statement to DR Nyheder:
There must be a broad European community around the competition, security must be in place – that almost goes without saying – and Eurovision must be, as far as possible, an apolitical event free from political interference.
We are running on the condition that there is broad support from other European countries. And it is clear that if at some point we find ourselves in a situation where this is no longer the case, it will also have an impact on DR’s participation.
If something changes significantly within one of the three things, it is clear that we will have to reconsider our participation, but for now it is important to state that we intend to stand.
Gustav Lutzhoft goes on to state:
DR’s participation in Eurovision is not a support for any single country. It is a support for a cross-cultural community across Europe, which has existed for many, many years. What DR is concerned with is supporting democracy and cohesion in society, and we think Eurovision is a really, really good place to do that among all the other initiatives and measures we have. So that’s why we’re running. There are many things that divide us, and we want to make it clear that we want that unity. That is why we are saying loud and clear that we are running.
Gustav Lutzhoft concludes:
There have always been political disputes around Eurovision. Just as there have been political disputes around all sorts of other cultural events, the World Cup in sports and so on. It’s so tense at the moment that it’s something we’ll have to keep an eye on. When will it stop being a cultural event, and when will it become a purely political event? And if it does, I can’t see myself in it.
DR has already kicked off preparations for DMGP 2026 and set the date for the 2026 Danish national final.
