In a historic move, the majority of Liechtenstein’s residents voted to abolish the law regulating public broadcasting in the country, potentially leading to the privatization of Radio Liechtenstein. What will be the implications of this decision on the country’s possible participation in Eurovision?

For the first time in its history, Liechtenstein’s residents chose to transform their public broadcasting landscape. 55.4% of voters supported the initiative by the Democrats for Liechtenstein (DpL) party to repeal the law governing public broadcasting. This decision paves the way for the potential future privatization of Radio Liechtenstein and possible changes in media funding in the country (meaning Radio Liechtenstein would become a private, independent entity instead of government-owned). According to the party’s statement, the vote does not give the government a mandate for full privatization but terminates public support for the station from December 31, 2025.

Alexander Batliner, president of the FBP party, expressed regret over the voting results and emphasized that it represents “a blow to the diversity of opinions in the media.” Batliner stated, “The public expressed its frustration with the weaknesses of the past over the potential for the future.” The party president further noted that the responsibility now lies with the initiators of the vote – the Democrats for Liechtenstein (DpL) party – to act to preserve the station so that it operates independently and to examine the necessary changes according to the new funding laws.

This current move effectively prevents Liechtenstein from continuing its process of joining the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Liechtenstein had planned to participate in the competition in the past. For Eurovision 1976, the Liechtenstein government held a national selection with two songs, where “My Little Cowboy” by singer Biggi Bachmann won. The song was supposed to be Liechtenstein’s first entry in the competition but was disqualified due to the lack of a television network that was a member of the European Broadcasting Union.

At the beginning of the previous decade, Liechtenstein once again showed interest in participating in Eurovision. Peter Kolbel, a former director at the 1FLTV television network, was enthusiastic and wanted to see Liechtenstein in the competition, but plans for joining were halted four years ago after Kolbel’s death. In fact, since 2016, no new country has joined the competition. Australia was the last country to join the contest in 2015, and since then, we have not seen any additional debut performances.