The Netherlands reported an unsafe atmosphere during the Eurovision Song Contest

The Netherlands filed an official complaint with the organization of the Eurovision Song Contest, saying the situation felt unsafe backstage at the event. The complaint was reported on Friday, Dutch Eurovision broadcaster AvroTros confirmed after initial reporting by Nu.nl.

The news site reported that there was an unsafe atmosphere, especially with regard to delegations. Several artists complained about this after the contest. Artists from Lithuania, Ireland and Norway, among others, have spoken critically about this.

AvroTros also shared this perspective, and reported this to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organizer of the Eurovision Song Contest. This took place on May 10, the same date Dutch singer Joost Klein was disqualified from the event. The broadcaster declined to provide further details.

The news also came out on Friday that an internal investigation was underway into an incident involving Joost Klein behind the scenes. The police have now taken over the investigation, but the EBU decided to disqualify him from Saturday evening's final. The police in Sweden have announced that they expect Joost Klein to be prosecuted for threatening a camerawoman.

Norwegian entry Gåte told the newspaper, Aftenposten, that they were even considering pulling out themselves just before the final. According to Magnus Børmark, the band's guitarist, it led to a fierce confrontation with the EBU. He felt that the participants were forced to take on a political role, but many were unable to cope with this.

"We regret that some delegations at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö didn’t respect the spirit of the rules and the competition both onsite and during their broadcasts. We spoke to a number of delegations during the event regarding various issues that were brought to our attention," the EBU said in a statement on Tuesday.