Construction work is ongoing in the main hall of Wiener Stadthalle the venue of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

The Eurovision Song Contest faces a “watershed moment” on Thursday when members of the body that organizes the contest may vote on whether Israel can compete in 2026, as some nations threaten to withdraw if it is not excluded due to the Gaza war.

European Broadcasting Union members will convene to discuss new rules designed to prevent governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to influence voters after controversy this year over Israel’s second-place win.

If members are not convinced the rules are adequate, there will be a vote on participation, the EBU said, without naming Israel specifically.

Public broadcasters from Slovenia, Ireland, Spain, and the Netherlands have all threatened to boycott the event, scheduled for May in Austria, if Israel is allowed to take part, citing concern over the Palestinian death toll in Gaza, where Israeli forces had been waging a military campaign against the ruling terrorist group Hamas until a recently implemented ceasefire.

EUROVISION AIMS TO BE NON-POLITICAL

The televised annual celebration of pop music, watched by around 150 million viewers worldwide, aims to be non-political, but the Gaza war has embroiled it in controversy. A boycott by some of the competition’s biggest European backers, including Spain, risks a major drop in audience numbers and potential sponsorship.

This year, critics accused Israel of unfairly boosting the second-place finish of its entrant Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists that triggered the conflict. Israel has not responded to these accusations but frequently argues it has faced a global smear campaign.

“We very much hope the package of measures will assure members that we have taken strong action to protect the neutrality and impartiality of the Song Contest,” the EBU said.

Eurovision expert Paul Jordan, who did a PhD on the contest, said it was a “watershed moment” for the competition.

“This is a real crisis point for Eurovision and the EBU … I think it probably has to go to a vote,” Jordan said.

Ben Robertson from fan site ESC Insight noted the potential impact of a loss in audience, but added without Israeli inclusion, Eurovision risks becoming more isolated.

NORWAY CALLS PROPOSED CHANGES ‘PROMISING’

The Israeli foreign ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Luxembourg’s RTL broadcaster backed the proposed changes, while Norway’s NRK broadcaster described the EBU’s signal of major change as “promising.”

If a vote against Israel were successful, Germany would probably withdraw and not broadcast the contest, a broadcasting industry source told Reuters. German broadcaster ARD did not comment. Austrian host broadcaster ORF wants Israel to compete.

Sources within Israeli broadcaster KAN told Reuters it believed discussions about excluding Israel were unjustified, asserting that KAN was in full compliance with EBU rules. It also noted KAN’s support for Israeli acts that have delivered what they described as memorable Eurovision performances.

Russia has been excluded from Eurovision since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

European Union VIce Presiden and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini (L) is seen during a talk with Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam, Aug. 5, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Kham

Belgian police on Tuesday detained former European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and a current senior EU diplomat as part of a fraud investigation that included raids at several sites, three sources familiar with the probe said.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) said the investigation focused on “suspected fraud related to EU-funded training for junior diplomats.” It involved searches at the EU‘s diplomatic service in Brussels, at the College of Europe – an elite university in Bruges that educates many EU officials – and at the houses of suspects.

Mogherini and senior diplomat Stefano Sannino, both Italian nationals, are well known in Brussels diplomatic circles and news of their detentions sent shockwaves through the EU community in Brussels.

Mogherini was the EU‘s high representative for foreign and security policy and head of its diplomatic service from 2014 to 2019. She became rector of the College of Europe in 2020.

TENDER OF TRAINING PROGRAMME PROBED

Sannino previously served as the most senior civil servant in the diplomatic service between 2021 and 2024 and is now director general of the European Commission’s department for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf.

The EPPO said in a statement that three people had been detained but withheld identities, citing the ongoing investigation. Neither Mogherini nor Sannino could be reached for comment.

The prosecutor’s office said its investigation centered on the establishment of the European Union Diplomatic Academy – a nine-month training program for junior diplomats, which was awarded to the College of Europe in 2021-2022 by the EU diplomatic service following a tender procedure.

It said there were “strong suspicions” that confidential information was shared during the process with one of the candidates participating in the tender.

“Prior to the searches, the EPPO requested the lifting of the immunity of several suspects, which was granted,” the statement said. “All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty by the competent Belgian courts of law.”

A spokesperson for the EU diplomatic service confirmed police visited its offices on Tuesday as part of an investigation into activities that took place before the current foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas took office.

The diplomatic service is “fully cooperating with the authorities,” added the spokesperson, Anitta Hipper. “Since it’s an ongoing investigation, we will not be able to say more.”

The College of Europe said in a statement it would “fully cooperate with the authorities in the interest of transparency and respect for the investigative process.”

“The college remains committed to the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and compliance — both in academic and administrative matters,” it said.

Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd during a Holy Mass at the Waterfront, during his first apostolic journey, in Beirut, Lebanon, Dec. 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Pope Leo bade farewell to Lebanon on Tuesday with a fervent appeal to leaders across the Middle East to listen to their people’s cries for peace and to change course away from the “horror of war.”

The first US pope wrapped up his first overseas trip as Catholic leader by addressing 150,000 people at a Mass on Beirut’s historic waterfront, where he pleaded for Lebanon to address years of conflict, political crises, and economic misery.

Leo said the region as a whole needed new approaches to overcome political, social, and religious divisions.

“The path of mutual hostility and destruction in the horror of war has been traveled too long, with the deplorable results that are before everyone’s eyes,” Leo said. “We need to change course. We need to educate our hearts for peace!”

‘MAY THE ATTACKS CEASE’

Leo has been visiting Lebanon for three days on the second leg of an overseas trip that started in Turkey, in which he has pleaded for peace in the Middle East and warned that humanity’s future was at risk from the world’s proliferating conflicts.

The pope, a relative unknown on the world stage before his election to the papacy in May, has been closely watched as he made his first speeches overseas and interacted for the first time with people outside mainly Catholic Italy.

In Lebanon, he urged the heads of religious sects to unite to heal the country and pressed political leaders to persevere with peace efforts after last year’s devastating war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, and continued Israeli strikes.

He also asked the international community “to spare no effort in promoting processes of dialogue and reconciliation” and asked those with “political and social authority” to “listen to the cry of your peoples who are calling for peace.”

In remarks at Beirut’s airport moments before taking off for Rome, Leo made his first apparent reference to Israeli strikes, saying he had been unable to visit Lebanon’s south because it is “currently experiencing a state of conflict and uncertainty.”

“May the attacks and hostilities cease,” he pleaded. “We must recognize that armed struggle brings no benefit.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asked Leo to keep Lebanon in his prayers, saying: “We have heard your message. And we will continue to embody it.”

‘PAIN AFTER PAIN’

Crowds had gathered at the waterfront hours before the start of Tuesday’s Mass. They waved Vatican and Lebanese flags as Leo toured in an enclosed popemobile, offering blessings as some in the crowd used umbrellas to guard against a strong Mediterranean sun.

Maroun al-Mallah, a 21-year-old student of landscape engineering, arrived at the site of Leo’s Mass before dawn to volunteer and said the visit could be a reset for Lebanon.

“It was lovely to know there was a sign of hope coming back to Lebanon,” Mallah told Reuters.

“Even in university, we just think what could come next. It’s just pain after pain after pain … especially after the third biggest explosion happened” at the port, he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Leo visited a psychiatric hospital run by Franciscan nuns and prayed near rubble at the Beirut port, where a 2020 chemical explosion shredded parts of Beirut.

The blast killed more than 200 people and caused billions of dollars in damage, but an investigation into the cause has been stymied and no one has been held to account.

Leo laid a wreath of flowers at a memorial there and greeted about 60 blast survivors and relatives of the victims from different religions holding photos of their lost loved ones.

He gave each a rosary in a pouch bearing his coat of arms. One woman sobbed as she greeted Leo and asked if she could give him a hug. He nodded, and they embraced.

Cecile Roukoz, who lost her brother in the blast, said Leo “will raise his voice for justice, and we need justice for all the victims.”

Lebanon, which has the largest proportion of Christians in the Middle East, has been rocked by the spillover of the Gaza conflict as Israel and Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah went to war, culminating in a devastating Israeli offensive.

The country, which hosts 1 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees, is also struggling to overcome a severe economic crisis after decades of profligate spending sent the economy into a tailspin in late 2019.