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Four countries turn down Eurovision amid crisis

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  • Four countries turn down Eurovision amid crisis

    Agence France Presse
    December 21, 2012 Friday 4:43 PM GMT


    Four countries turn down Eurovision amid crisis

    STOCKHOLM, Dec 21 2012


    Four countries including debt-burdened Portugal will abstain from next
    year's Eurovision Song Contest, but crisis-hit Greece will be taking
    part, the event's organisers said on Friday.

    Bosnia-Herzegovina, Portugal, Slovakia and Turkey have all said they
    will not be participating in the contest, which is to be held in the
    Swedish city of Malmoe from May 14 to 18 next year.

    The first three cited "economic reasons" for abstaining, while Turkey
    opposed changes to the competition's rules, according to a statement
    by Eurovision, the media content distributor that is operated by the
    European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

    Armenia will return to the contest after security concerns stopped it
    from sending a delegation to neighbouring Azerbaijan in 2012.

    Greece's ERT is among the 39 national broadcasters that have signed up
    for next year's event despite the country suffering acutely from an
    economic crisis, which had prompted speculation that budget cuts would
    prevent it from coming this year.

    The EBU said it was "sensitive to the economic pressures facing its
    members" and that contest organisers were constantly "seeking ways to
    cut costs for both participating broadcasters as well as the host
    broadcaster."

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