Swiss Right Aims to Block Eurovision, Citing ‘Satanism and Occultism’

Conservative groups are threatening to block Switzerland from hosting next year’s Eurovision by forcing budget referendums on potential host cities, arguing that the song contest is a “propaganda event” that “celebrates satanism and occultism.”

Switzerland secured the right to host the world’s largest live music event after Swiss singer Nemo triumphed in Sweden with “The Code.” Zurich, Geneva, Bern, and Basel have all applied to host the five-day spectacle.

The Christian conservative Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (EDU) party, however, plans to utilize the country’s direct democracy system to put the bidding cities’ loan applications to a vote.

“The Eurovision song contest is a ghastly propaganda occasion,” stated the EDU in a social media post on Tuesday. “A country that provides a stage to such disgusting trash won’t elevate its image but merely showcase its own intellectual decline.”

Samuel Kullmann, a senior EDU politician, told Swiss broadcaster SRF that his party was disturbed by Eurovision’s increasing “celebration, or at least tolerance of satanism and occultism.” He added, “More and more artists present openly occultist messages and underline them with respective symbols.”

For instance, the Irish singer Bambie Thug’s stage show at the 2024 contest featured a devil-like horned dancer and a circle of candles containing a pentagram, a common satanic symbol when inverted.

In the final in Malmö, Nemo became the first non-binary artist to win the contest in its 68-year history with a song celebrating their identity beyond male and female gender norms.

Although the EDU is a minor political party with only one seat on the Swiss national council, its calls for referendums have gained support from the larger right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and the Swiss taxpayers’ association in some cantons.

The SVP’s youth wing supported a referendum, citing concerns over the introduction of a third gender and “overt antisemitism.” Large pro-Palestine protests took place outside the venue for the Malmö final and semi-finals in May.

While referendums against Swiss cities hosting Eurovision might not necessarily succeed, the threat of such votes introduces significant uncertainty for the event’s planners.

Votes could not take place before November, but the host city for the May 2025 event is scheduled to be chosen by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation in consultation with the European Broadcasting Union by the end of August.