A spokesperson for the Austrian Federal Police said on Sunday (May 10) that security preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest were 'above the norm'. Spokesperson Paul Eidenberger also said that while the threat level was as high as it had been since October 2023, there was no intelligence about any concrete planned attacks.

Eidenberger added that special units like anti-terror components, helicopters and drones were part of the security measures ahead of the contest.

Vienna is expecting hundreds of thousands of fans for the 70th edition of the song contest.

The celebration of Eurovision's 70th anniversary however threatens to be overshadowed by the competition's biggest ever boycott.

Five countries - Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain, are boycotting over Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza, launched in retaliation for the October 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas.

The televised annual celebration of pop music, watched by around 150 million viewers worldwide, aims to be non-political but the Gaza war has embroiled it in controversy.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIENNA, AUSTRIA (MAY 9, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF FENCES IN FRONT OF EUROVISION EVENT VENUE, WIENER STADTHALLE

2. EUROVISION POSTER BEHIND FENCES

3. BARRIER

4. VARIOUS OF FENCES

5. PERSON WALKING BY BEHIND FENCES

6. FENCES

7. VARIOUS OF SECURITY CAMERAS

8. VARIOUS OF CONCRETE BARRIERS

VIENNA, AUSTRIA (MAY 10, 2026) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

9. SPOKESPERSON FOR THE AUSTRIAN FEDERAL POLICE, PAUL EIDENBERGER, DURING INTERVIEW

10. (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) SPOKESPERSON FOR THE AUSTRIAN FEDERAL POLICE, PAUL EIDENBERGER, SAYING:

"We have basically every possible unit here in our overall operational planning, like special units, like drones, like anti-terror components, like the Cobra special unit. We have helicopters, we have many, many different people, bomb squads, K9 units, everyone with their speciality and their special use. Many of those special units will not be visible for the duration of the week. And are always on-site and can intervene in a moment's notice."

11. VARIOUS OF BARRIERS

12. EIDENBERGER DURING INTERVIEW

13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR THE AUSTRIAN FEDERAL POLICE, PAUL EIDENBERGER, SAYING:

"The Song Contest is of course something special and our preparations are above the norm. They are not like they used to be for other comparable events. We have to do more here. We have to have a security net that's even tighter all across the city, especially at the venues where the Song Contests is going to take place."

14. VARIOUS OF FENCES

15. VARIOUS OF WASTE MANAGEMENT TRUCKS USED AS STREET BLOCKADES

16. EIDENBERGER DURING INTERVIEW

17. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR THE AUSTRIAN FEDERAL POLICE, PAUL EIDENBERGER, SAYING:

"Our threat assessment level is now on level four of five. It's the same in many other European countries and has been like that since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023. And this threat assessment, Level 4, also applies to the Eurovision Song Contest. What does it mean? It means that we have like a general threat, but we have no intelligence that any concrete plans or attacks are going to take place."

18. TIME-LAPSE OF WALK-BY OF FENCES

19. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN FRONT OF EUROVISION VILLAGE

20. VARIOUS OF EUROVISION COUNTDOWN CLOCK