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Bosnia and Herzegovina unlikely to return to Eurovision as long as funding issue can’t be fixed

June 24, 2021

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Bosnia and Herzegovina’s official broadcaster BHRT has confirmed that it is unlikely to return to Eurovision due to financial reasons. 

BHRT explained in a statement that they do not have the financial means to finance the participation of representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina in ”this most spectacular and expensive TV show in the world”. The broadcaster has been under EBU sanctions since 2017 due to debts of around 6 million CHF (around 5,5 million €). 

The broadcaster stated that ”these sanctions of the EBU imply not only that we can not actively participate but also that we can not broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest.  “Last year we had the opportunity to broadcast the show “Europe Shine a Light “,  thanks to the decision of the EBU, which met our needs due to the pandemic and enabled the broadcast. Unfortunately, we were not able to do that this year “

BHRT expressed hope that in the time ahead, the state authorities will show interest in the functioning of the BiH public service in accordance with the international obligations they have undertaken, but also with the standards of the public service and thus enable everyone, primarily citizens who pay the RTV fee, availability of events and programs of public interest. The broadcaster thinks that the only way to return to the contest would be through cooperations. 

Only with the support of the economy, state bodies, institutions, citizens and joint investment in a product called BiH’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest could we quickly expect BiH to return to this competition because the Eurovision Song Contest is not just a competition for the best song, the Eurovision Song Contest is much more than that.”

Deen, Dalal, Ana Rucner and Jala were the last artists who represented Bosnia and Herzegovina (2016).

Source: ba.n1 

Would you like to see Bosnia and Herzegovina back at Eurovision? And do you have a favourite Bosnian entry? Let us know in the comments!

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