GENEVA

Greece's leftist opposition party SYRIZA has called on the government to pull the country out of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, criticizing Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' refusal to follow several European states that have already withdrawn in protest of Israel’s participation.

In a statement, SYRIZA said Wednesday that "while a number of European countries -- Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia -- are withdrawing from the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest for 2026, in protest of Israel's participation, the Mitsotakis government refuses to proceed with this decision."

The party accused the government of maintaining what it called a misguided strategic alignment with Israel. SYRIZA said the government must "quickly abandon the doctrine of a strategic ally with the murderous Netanyahu regime, which is committing genocide in Gaza."

The statement argued that Greece should align itself with countries protesting the European Broadcasting Union's stance.

"Elementary respect for the people of Palestine and the suffering they face requires Greece to distance itself from the recent decision of the European Broadcasting Union, which opened the way for Israel's participation, and the withdrawal of (Greek public broadcaster) ERT from Eurovision," it said.