First they announced withdrawal, then they were included in the list of confirmed countries for Düsseldorf, and now the story comes to an end. Slovak broadcaster STV have officially announced that they will not take part in Eurovision 2011 due to financial reasons and the changes the broadcasting company is undergoing as a result of the merger between the television and radio services.

The Slovaks were granted an extended deadline in order to decide whether they would participate or not in Eurovision. The final decision is known – the central European country will not be in Düsseldorf in May.

According to the interim director of RTVS -the company resulting of the merger of STV and the Slovak public radio-, Lubos Machaj, STV is affected by a severe debt and facing such an event like Eurovision would worsen the financial situation of the broadcaster. Machaj has not ruled out a possible return of the country in the future.

The list of countries to compete in Eurovision 2011 features now 42 members, one below the Belgrade 2008 record.