VRT will reconsider Belgium’s future Eurovision participation unless serious measures are taken regarding the voting system

This year’s edition of the Eurovision Song Contest may be over, but the tensions are just beginning, with numerous broadcasters raising questions for the EBU regarding the televoting results. Belgium’s Flemish national broadcaster VRT is one of the latest to demand full transparency in the voting process.

This year, Belgium was represented by Red Sebastian with the song “Strobe Lights,” which finished 14th in the first semi-final. Belgium has now failed to qualify for the Grand Final for the second year in a row.

VRT questions Belgium’s future Eurovision participation

VRT spokesperson Yasmine Van der Borght stated that the broadcaster has officially requested full transparency from the EBU regarding the voting process. Van der Borght emphasised that they believe this year’s vote count was done correctly, but that their are concerns over its fairness: 

“The question is whether the current voting system guarantees a fair reflection of the opinion of the viewers and listeners.”

This follows earlier comments from Spain’s RTVE, which questioned how, despite widespread pro-Palestinian protests in the country, Spain ended up awarding 12 points to Israel. The broadcaster argues that allowing viewers to cast up to 20 votes creates room for coordinated campaigns and political influence, distancing Eurovision from its cultural and artistic focus.

Van der Borght warned that if the EBU refuses to engage in serious discussions with participating broadcasters, VRT may reconsider Belgium’s future involvement. This marks the first time that the broadcaster has taken such a strong stance toward the EBU.

“VRT makes an explicit appeal to enter into debate with all countries, out of a sincere involvement and concern for the survival of the competition.

“We at VRT have noticed that the Eurovision Song Contest as it is currently organised is becoming less and less of a unifying and apolitical event. It is increasingly at odds with the original norms and values ​​of the event and with the norms and values ​​of public broadcasting.”

“VRT works well with the EBU on many levels, but without a serious response to our concerns regarding the Eurovision Song Contest, we are questioning our future participation.”

Flemish Minister for Media, Cieltje Van Achter, has voiced her support for VRT’s request for “serious answers” from the EBU regarding the voting process.

Following a request by Belgian Eurovision site Songfestival.be, VRT has shared the country’s televoting numbers over the past three years.

Online voting was not available for Belgian viewers in 2023

The Flemish viewing figures for the same three years are as follows:

Belgium was eliminated from the semi-final in both 2024 and 2025, resulting in a drop in viewership for the grand final both years.

Despite this, the number of votes cast in the grand final was higher than that of 2023, when Belgium last made it to Saturday night’s show.

The 2023 grand final had almost twice as many viewers as 2025, but almost half as many votes were cast.

VRT does not have any answers for the difference in vote counts at this stage, telling Songfestival.be “nor do the Netherlands and Spain. We are currently inquiring about this.”

RTBF supports voting transparency

Next year, Belgium’s Eurovision representative will be selected by RTBF, the country’s French-language broadcaster, as VRT and RTBF alternate this responsibility each year.

RTBF did not want to respond to VRT’s comments about future participations. However, the broadcaster has expressed its willingness to cooperate in efforts to improve the voting system and the overall competition.

“Faced with the ongoing debates regarding the voting system, RTBF supports the need to ensure the highest levels of transparency. We are available to work and, if necessary, to adapt to improvements and adaptations to the competition’s terms and conditions.

“RTBF also reiterates its commitment within the EBU to defending the editorial independence of its members and the safety of journalists and public service media in general.”

EBU: “Eurovision voting is the most advanced in the world”

The EBU has responded to VRT’s comments through a statement by Martin Green, Director of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Green noted that the EBU is committed to taking responsibility and engaging in discussions with any broadcaster requesting a debate, emphasising that maintaining strong relationships with participating broadcasters is a top priority.

“We remain in constant contact with all participating broadcasters and take their concerns seriously.

“Now that the event has concluded, we will have a broad discussion with the participating broadcasters to reflect and get feedback on all aspects of this year’s event. It is part of our planning process for next year’s 70th Eurovision Song Contest.”

At the same time, he assured that the voting system is functioning flawlessly and described it as “the most advanced in the world”:

“It is important to stress that the Eurovision voting process is the most advanced in the world and that each country’s results are checked and verified by a huge team of people to rule out any suspicious or irregular voting patterns.

“An independent verification device checks both the jury and public voting data to ensure a valid result. Our voting partner Once has confirmed that a valid vote has been registered in all countries participating in this year’s Grand Final and in the rest of the world.”

Israel’s voting campaign

A key issue that is being raised concerns the ability to use institutional advertising to incentivise voting.

The EBU’s fact-checking network, Spotlight, recently investigated a Eurovision 2025 voting drive sponsored by an Israeli government agency.

On Sunday, the televoting results from Belgium revealed that the country’s 12 points went to Israel—an outcome that sparked some controversy.

According to the televote results, Israel, represented this year by Yuval Raphael with the song “New Day Will Rise,” received the maximum 12 points from 13 countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Germany, and the “Rest of the World” (which includes votes from non-participating countries). As a result, Israel was the public’s favourite, receiving 297 points, and finished in second place overall in the grand final behind Austria’s JJ.

VRT NWS Eurovision expert, Gianni Paelinck, commented that while the song was good, “the campaign behind it was even better,” warning that no one should “underestimate the campaigning of the Israeli government.”

Paelinck said about the Israel’s campaign:

“To start with – and this is the most important reason – the Israeli government has campaigned very actively. On social media, for example, official accounts have reported a lot about the Eurovision Song Contest and encouraged people – especially those from the Jewish community worldwide – to vote. But it goes even further. I wanted to post something on Instagram from the arena yesterday and Instagram automatically suggested using the Israel song as audio. That is no coincidence. That shows how big the campaign was.

“If you take into account the fact that you can vote 20 times per mobile phone number, that can really start to count. You really should not underestimate the effect of canvassing. In addition, when voting, you cannot vote against a country or take votes away. You can only vote for a country. That sounds logical, but it is important in this context. Because people who consciously did not watch or vote because of the situation in Gaza, give space to others to vote. For Israel, for example. And so a boycott can actually have a paradoxical effect.”

Dr. Jonathan Hendrickx of the Dutch-speaking Free University of Brussels (VUB) supports this theory, highlighting how Israel conducted a massive media campaign—both through its national broadcaster and the government itself—to secure as many votes as possible for their candidate.

He pointed out that each person can vote up to 20 times per credit card. Whilst people are free to vote for their favourite entry, Hendrickx emphasised that when a government becomes directly involved, it shifts the focus away from music and into the realm of politics, undermining the apolitical spirit that the contest strives to uphold.

“I think that with a situation like this, with manipulation of the vote on a large scale, we cannot survive for very long. So something has to be done, both in terms of Israel’s participation and in terms of the way in which voting can take place. Because it is currently simply too easy to influence the results on a large scale through coordinated actions. And that has to be tempered.”

Hendrickx hopes that VRT will take a main role in ensuring a fair contest moving forward:

“I think that the VRT could certainly play a leading role. There now needs to be a debate between all public broadcasters. Clearly defined rules need to be drawn up. We also need to examine whether we want Israel to continue to participate and do we still wish to take part if Israel still does? But a common stance needs to be taken, otherwise nothing will happen. It would be really nice if our Flemish public broadcaster were to play a leading role in this.”

Belgian artists speak about Israel’s participation

During the Radio2 show Goeiemorgen Morgen, Laura Tesoro—who represented Belgium in 2016—voiced her disappointment over the 12 points Belgium awarded to Israel in the televote:

“We’ve been seeing images of children and adults starving for months, images of people dying… And then we do this? Complete madness. My head can’t wrap its head around this.”

This year’s contestant, Red Sebastian, also spoke on Play4’s Tafel van Gert about how he hopes broadcasters will discuss Israel’s future in the contest:

“Artists should not concern themselves with that, but I think that all countries and stakeholders should come together and have a debate about Israel’s participation. It’s a shame that the Eurovision Song Contest revolves around politics. That used to be the case, but I was really confronted with the facts. It should be a festival. There was a great atmosphere among all the participants, everyone supported each other. I felt a lot of love there, but unfortunately it is overshadowed by politics and money.”