Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said the Eurovision song contest should exclude Israel, expressing solidarity with “the people of Palestine who are experiencing the injustice of war and bombardment”, AFP reports.
The intervention by Sanchez, one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza, comes after protests against Israeli participation marked last weekend’s extravaganza in Switzerland.
Russia has not been allowed to participate in Eurovision since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“Therefore Israel shouldn’t either, because what we cannot allow is double standards in culture,” Sanchez said at an event in Madrid.
“Spain’s commitment to international law and human rights must be constant and must be coherent. Europe’s should be too,” added the Socialist leader.