Bosnia Herzegovina might be absent from the competition for a 4th year in a row, having missed out participating in the contest in 2013, 2014 and 2015. The Bosnian broadcaster has announced today that BHRT and Bosnia Herzegovina have withdrawn their application to compete at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. Thus leaving a door open to reapply for participation by the end of October if BHRT finds a sponsor and the required funds for participation.

The Bosnian broadcaster has confirmed to ESCToday that it has decided to withdraw its application to participate at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna next year.

The decision was taken after intense negotiations with the EBU, who indicated that this time, in view of the difficult financial situation BHRT is currently facing, caused by the drastic fall in income from the license fee, the Bosnian broadcaster has been given a grace period until the end of October to find a sponsor to provide the financial means for Bosnia & Herzegovina to compete in the event next year.

Bearing in mind the public interest  BHRT will do its utmost best to find a solution along with its partners and sponsors in order to participate at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm.

BHRT had submitted a preliminary application to the EBU last month for competing at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm.

Bosnia Herzegovina withdrew from the contest in 2013 due to financial reasons and applied to participate in the contest in 2014, 2015 and 2016 but later decided to opt out of the competition due to lack of funds and sponsors.

The last time saw Bosnia & Herzegovina on the Eurovision stage was in 2012 in Baku, when Maya Sar represented the country with her entry Korake Ti Znam.

Bosnia & Herzegovina debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993 with Fazla‘s Sval Bol Svijeta. The country is yet to win the event whilst its best placing at the Eurovision Song Contest was in 2006 when Hari Mata Hari achieved a 3rd placing with his entry Lejla.

The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 10, 12 , 14 May at the Ericsson Globe Arena, in Stockholm, Sweden.

Stay tuned to ESCToday.com for the latest news on Bosnia & Herzegovina the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.