Luxembourg will not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, says spokesperson Lucien Linster of broadcaster RTL to several websites and individuals. The only issue that can keep the country in the 2004 contest is a financial compensation from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Every participating country pays a fee for the participation, based on their national income and inhabitants. While Luxembourg is one of the richest countries in Europe, RTL is not willing to pay their fee.

Eurovision Song Contest coordinator Svante Stockselius (EBU) told esctoday.com: “RTL has formally withdrawn their participation. However, we are looking into the payment fees and still discussing with Luxembourg, and hopefully we can still have them on for 2004.”

For now, it is waiting for the official release of the final list of participants.