After Montenegro: North Macedonia and Bulgaria also withdraw from Eurovision 2023
After Montenegro’s broadcaster RTCG announced their absence from the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool just a few hours ago, two more broadcasters stated that they will withdraw from the competition.
The first one is the North Macedonian broadcaster MRT, which cited financial reasons for their absence from the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in their official statement:
Such a decision is in the best interest of the citizens, taking into account the increased costs due to the energy crisis, which occupy a large part of the budget of the Public Service, as well as the increased registration fee for the participation in Eurovision 2023, which until last year was β¬39,143.00 and the next year is expected to be higher.
However MRT confirmed that they will broadcast both semi-finals and the final on their channels and strive to return to Eurovision in 2024. Since their first official Eurovision appearance in 1998, this is the first time that the broadcaster has decided to withdraw from the competition!
At this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, North Macedonia was represented by Andrea with the song “Limits” and finished in 11th place in the second semi-final!
The second broadcaster not returning to Eurovision is BNT from Bulgaria. Their official Eurovision account confirmed their absence from next year’s contest in a reply to OGAE Greece, which was published on Twitter and shortly after, the account became inactive.
π§π¬The Bulgarian broadcaster has officially confirmed to OGAE Greece that Bulgaria will not participate in Eurovision 2023!
It’s also reported that most likely the country will not participate in the coming years.#Eurovision2023 #Eurovision #esc2022 #esc pic.twitter.com/3GCuXZGLgU
β Eurovision Insider (@escinsiders) October 14, 2022
Intelligent Music Project represented Bulgaria with the song “Intention” this year and finished in 16th place out of 17 semi-finalists.
Are you sad to see Bulgaria and North Macedonia go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and on our social media profiles! @escbubble
