Romania Opts Out of Eurovision Song Contest 2024
The national broadcaster TVR announced on Thursday, 25 January, that Romania will not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. TVR's Board of Directors cited "financial constraints and the desire to represent Romania at a high level" as reasons for the decision.
The decision was made at today's meeting on 25 January with 5 votes in favour, 4 abstentions and 4 against.
Also today, the Board of Directors approved SRTv's budget for 2024, which does not contain enough funds to guarantee Romania's participation in line with the increasingly high standards of the international competition.
This year, in addition to its established productions, TVR is allocating significant resources to other priority productions and projects. These include the broadcast of the Summer Olympics in Paris, the continuation of the process re-equipment - automation of SRTv broadcasts, investments in the news production system, continued investments in the new TVR Craiova headquarters and other long-delayed modernisation projects.
Although it has benefited from the extension of the deadline to register for the contest from 2024, due to the traditional cooperation with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organiser of the contest, TVR has to postpone its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest for the future.
"Eurovision 2024 will be held in Malmö, Sweden, the country whose representative won the 2023 contest.
The first and second semi-finals are scheduled for 7 and 9 May (Ukraine will perform at one of them), and the grand final is on 11 May.
Over the years, several countries, such as Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina or North Macedonia, have decided not to participate in the international competition.
The final of the national selection for Eurovision 2024 will take place in Ukraine on 3 February. Then, the jury and the audience will choose a representative from Ukraine to participate in the international song contest.