North Macedonia: MRT Confirms Absence From Eurovision 2024

It seems like the healthy conversations came to an undesirable end.
Over the summer, North Macedonian broadcaster MRT made several announcements about the country’s participation at Eurovision 2024.

Protocols from meetings at the headquarters of the national broadcaster have been revealed and indicated the country had intentions to take part in the upcoming contest.

And yet, when looking at the proposed budget for 2024, one can see clearly that the amount of money suggested for Eurovision 2024 and Junior Eurovision might be too small.
A total of 1,500,000 Macedonian Denars (around 24,349 Euros):

Now it is finally crystal clear that we won’t see North Macedonia at Eurovision 2024.
MRT released the following statement:

Macedonian Radio Television informs the public about its decision not to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest next year, which will be held in Malmö, Sweden.
This decision is in the best interest of the citizens, taking into account that next year, the Public Service, with all its capacities, will focus on celebrating the great jubilee, 80 years of Macedonian Radio and 60 years of Macedonian Television. The activities to mark the great jubilee will take place throughout the year 2024.
MRT will broadcast the event, the two semi-final evenings and the grand final on its services.

Based on the statement, MRT chose to prioritize the budget for the 60th anniversary of the North Madecodinan TV and 90th anniversart of the local radio.

Andrea represented North Macedonia at Eurovision 2022 with the song “Circles“.
Unfortunately, she didn’t qualify for the final, ending in 11th place in semi-final 2:

We hope to see North Macedonia back in the contest in the near future!
Eurovision 2024 will be held in Malmö, Sweden.
The semi-finals will be held on the 7th and 9th of May 2024, and the grand final will be held on the 11th of May 2024