Nearly 30 members of the European Parliament called on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to apply Union standards and exclude Israel from the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, as happened with Russia.

The Spanish left-wing party Podemos issued an official statement to the European Broadcasting Union on Tuesday, stating, "The European Broadcasting Union issued a statement expressing its desire for Eurovision to remain a non-political event where artists and broadcasters compete, not governments."

The letter pointed out that Eurovision vetoed Russia's participation in the contest since 2022 after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.

The MEPs concluded by saying: "We ask the Broadcasting Union to act fairly and apply the same standards when making decisions, and therefore we request reconsideration of the decision to allow Israel to participate in the Eurovision Festival."

Earlier in January, more than 1,400 representatives from the Finnish music industry signed a petition to the national broadcaster Yle demanding influence on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to prevent Israel from participating in the music competition.

Last December, the Icelandic magazine "Iceland Review" reported that the Icelandic Association of Composers and Songwriters asked the national broadcasting authority not to participate in Eurovision 2024 if Israel was among the participants.

Eurovision 2024 will be held in the city of Malmö, Sweden, in May of this year, as Sweden earned the right to host the contest after Swedish singer Loreen won the contest last year.