CT, Ceska Televize, the Czech national broadcaster has confirmed to ESCToday.com that the Czech Republic will not participate at the forthcoming 2015  Eurovision Song Contest in Austria, thus the country will not return to the contest next year.

The Czech Republic joins Andorra and Monaco in confirming their absence at the forthcoming 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.

The Czech Republic has been absent from the event since 2010. The landlocked central European country debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 with Kabat’s Mala Dama and has competed in the event 3 times. 2009 marked the last participation of the Czech Republic with Gypsy.cz with Aven Romale. The country never qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest final. Hence due to low viewing rates and poor results the broadcaster decided to withdraw from the contest in 2010 and has not returned since. Will we see the  Czech Republic back in the contest in 2016?

So far a total of 18 countries have confirmed their intention to join the Eurovision party next year in Austria: Portugal, Greece,  FYR Macedonia, Austria, Cyprus, Malta, Switzerland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, Finland, The Netherlands, Lithuania, Belgium and Estonia. Whilst Montenegro and Belarus have stated that they are  most likely to enter the competition next year.

The deadline for broadcasters to submit their applications for participation at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest has been set on the 15 September.

The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 19, 21, 23 May in Austria.

Stay tuned to ESCToday.com for the latest news on the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.