BHRT, the national Bosnian broadcaster has confirmed  that Bosnia & Herzegovina will not participate at the forthcoming 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv next year.

The Bosnian broadcaster has been forced to stay out of the competition once again due to the difficult financial situation it is currently facing. BHRT did not apply to participate at ESC 2017.

BHRT had confirmed to ESCToday earlier this month that a participation at the 2017 ESC would be highly unlikely.

Thus Bosnia & Herzegovina will join Luxembourg, Monaco and Andorra all of whom have confirmed their non participation at the upcoming Eurovision edition in Ukraine.

Bosnia Herzegovina returned to the contest in 2016 after a 3 year absence due to the financial reasons. The country withdrew from the competition in 2013 and stayed out in 2014 and 2015.

In 2016 Bosnia & Herzegovina went internal and selected Dalal & Deen feat. Ana Rucner and Jala with their entry Ljubav Je to fly the Bosnian flag in Stockholm. Despite an extraordinary performance the country failed to qualify to the Grand Final.

The period for countries to apply for participation at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest concluded on 15 September. Hereafter applicant countries have a grace period until 10 October to decide if they are to stay or not in the competition without facing a financial penalty.

The final and confirmed list of the ESC 2017 participating countries is expected to be released by the EBU by the end of the year.

Bosnia & Herzegovina debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 and is yet to win the event. The country achieved its best result in the contest in 2006 when Hari Mata Hari placed 3rd in the Grand Final in Athens.

The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held in Kyiv on 9, 11 and 13 May.