The last time Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the Eurovision Song Contest was in 2016. This is because of the sanctions imposed by the European Broadcasting Union due to a debt of six million Swiss francs owed by the public broadcaster BHRT.

In the past, BiH contestants achieved significant success, with the best result being achieved in 2006 when Bosnia and Herzegovina was represented by Hari Mata Hari with the song “Lejla”. Longtime commentator and head of the Bosnian delegation at Eurovision, Dejan Kukric, explains that it is a huge shame that the country has been absent from the competition year after year.

”Situacija je nažalost takva da to finansijsko opterećenje i dug javnog servisa samo raste očigledno i nema nade da će to u skorijem vremenu biti riješeno. To je glavni razlog. BHRT je godinama pod sankcijama. Nadam se da će se ta kriza preovladati i da će se BiH vratiti i da će javni servis postati respektabilan kakav i treba da bude. Tamo ima puno vrijednih ljudi i ljudi koji zaslužuju da prave dobar TV program za sve građen. Imali smo sjajne plasmane. Žao mi je što nas nema, vjerujem da kreativnog potencijala ima. Šteta… nadam se da će se situacija popraviti, te da ćemo imati uspjehe kakve smo imali”, izjavio je Kukrić za N1.

“Unfortunately, the situation is such that the financial burden and the debt of the public broadcaster only seem to be increasing, and there is no hope that it will be resolved in the near future. That is the main reason. BHRT has been under sanctions for years. I hope that this crisis will be overcome and that Bosnia and Herzegovina will return, and that the public broadcaster will become as respectable as it should be. There are many valuable people there who deserve to produce good TV programs for all citizens. We had great placements. I'm sorry we're not there, I believe there is creative potential. It's a shame… I hope the situation will improve, and that we will have successes like we did,” Kukric told N1.

If the debt were paid off, Bosnia and Herzegovina could participate in Eurovision again.

“Every TV production is expensive. We're talking about the biggest and most-watched show on the planet. Of course, this type of production is expensive. And if you participate, of course, you have to invest to benefit from viewership and marketing revenues. There are many things in the country that are expensive, and they happen, and that's how it is. Look, we're not at Eurovision, and is the situation better? Are the salaries at BHRT higher? They're not. We've abolished something, and the benefit of abolishing it hasn't been seen,” Kukric concluded.