While North Macedonia has de-facto confirmed its absence from Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland, due to budget constraints, new reports suggest that the final word may not have been spoken yet.
A few days ago, we reported that North Macedonia would be absent from Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland, as the competition was not included in the North Macedonian broadcaster’s budget. However, recent reports indicate that officials at the broadcaster are considering the country’s return to Eurovision, possibly as soon as 2025.
Although North Macedonia’s national broadcaster, MRT, published its budget specification for 2025 without allocating funds for Eurovision, the broadcaster’s program council has convened in response to numerous requests from Macedonian Eurovision fans. The council approved that North Macedonia’s participation in the competition is important, and that the broadcaster should make efforts to return to Eurovision.
Council President Smiljka Janevska Sarkanjac emphasized the significant meaning of the country’s participation in Eurovision, even if it doesn’t always achieve high rankings: “The Program Council of MRT has agreed for three consecutive years that Eurovision participation should not be canceled, even if we are unable to secure high placements. Every opportunity for North Macedonia to be represented on an international platform must not be missed. MRT exists to create and promote local music and culture, and we cannot easily dismiss such an opportunity for exposure.”
The country’s last Eurovision appearance was in 2022, when singer Andrea represented North Macedonia, finishing 11th in the semi-final. Subsequently, ahead of Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool, UK, the Macedonian broadcaster announced that due to economic reasons, the country would not participate in Eurovision for the first time since 2003. In the previous year, MRT allocated 1.5 million Macedonian dinars for participation in Junior Eurovision 2023 and Eurovision 2024. There were even plans for the country to participate in Eurovision 2024, with singer Andrijana Janevska chosen to represent the Balkan nation, but she ultimately declined.
North Macedonia in Eurovision 2022
Andrea represented North Macedonia with her song “Circles” after winning the local national final. She competed in the second semi-final and finished in 11th place with 76 points.
Source: Eurovisionfun
Eurovision 2022: This was North Macedonia’s 21st participation in Eurovision. North Macedonia joined the competition in 1998 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 2019 when singer Tamara Todevska finished in seventh place with the song “Proud”.
