Montenegro and North Macedonia will not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest this year. It is getting too expensive.
Due to the invasion of Ukraine, Russia is not welcome at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool. The other participating countries were then asked to pay a higher membership fee. For Montenegro and North Macedonia the cost is too much: they have withdrawn. Participants normally bear about 5.75 million euros in costs, the organizing country from 9 to 19 million, depending on the ambition of the production. We will know this week if any country will drop the list when the EBU organizer announces the list.
