As a follow up to RTK’s statement regarding Kosovo’s potential participation at the 2018 Eurovision, we bring you the EBU’s statement concerning this matter.

ESCToday decided to contact the EBU in order to shed more light on Kosovo’s possible participation at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest following RTK’s statement. The EBU told ESCToday:

We can confirm Kosovo will not take part in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon as RTK does not meet the criteria to participate. The EBU have made RTK aware of this situation.

Thus the EBU has confirmed to ESCToday that Kosovo will not participate at next year’s Eurovision edition in Lisbon, thus putting an end to rumours and speculation regarding the country’s debut in the competition in 2018.

So far, a total of 34 countries have confirmed their participation at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurovision 2018

The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 8, 10 and 12 May in Lisbon, Portugal.

The deadline for broadcasters to officially apply for Eurovision 2018 concluded on 15 September. Hereafter, countries have a grace period to confirm their participation or withdraw their application without a penalty until 10 October.

The final list of the 2018 Eurovision participating countries is expected to be released by the EBU later during the year.


Sanjay (Sergio) joined esctoday.com in December 2006 as an editor. He was appointed as the Head of Press of ESCToday.com in 2011. Hereafter in 2016 he was promoted as the Head of International Relations & Communications at ESCToday. Sergio has covered the Eurovision Song Contest live 22 times since 2000, having worked for several international magazines and media outlets.