Kosovo’s main broadcaster, RTK, has undergone a lengthy process to push for recognition within the EBU over the last decade. That process may finally come to a conclusion this December as the EBU, at their General Assembly in the Albanian capital Tirana, have called forward a motion to vote on RTK’s full membership. This confirms their talks with the EBU last week, and it would be a crucial step towards a Kosovo Eurovision debut. If approved in December, we could even see the country debut at 2019’s contest.
Steps towards Kosovo Eurovision participation
Ever since the UN administration began in Kosovo, RTK has been independently licensed to broadcast EBU programming within Kosovo. This includes the Eurovision Song Contest. It participated in one edition of the biennial Eurovision Young Dancers competition in 2011, but did not return in 2013 and has been absent since. RTK has broadcast the contest in recent years, and it has been clear on their part that they desire to debut as soon as is possible. However each year, their efforts come to nothing. Could it be different now, with the EBU beginning a vote on the matter?
Obstacles to come?
It is a familiar story by now, the EBU have dashed the hopes of fans looking to see Kosovo debut in Eurovision before, with opposition from Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia, but with a full EBU membership, Kosovo would be entitled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It has been over a decade since the last full EBU member debuted, Azerbaijan in 2008. Of course, since then, the associate member Australia has debuted, in 2015, but there has been uncertainty who the next EBU full member would be, with Kazakhstan or Liechtenstein sometimes touted as future participants. Now, with this vote on the horizon, it looks like perhaps Kosovo stands the best chance of debuting in 2019.
What do you think about the possibility of Kosovo taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest? Are you excited to hear what Kosovo might bring to the stage? Let us know below with a comment.
Shame on you EBU, shame on you Europe, Kosovo is Serbia!
But wasn\’t Serbia once Yugoslavia?
The more the merrier!๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฆ๐น๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฟ๐ง๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ง๐ฌ๐ง๐พ๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐พ๐จ๐ฟ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ช๐ช๐ธ๐ช๐บ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ท๐ฌ๐ง๐ฌ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ฌ๐ท๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ง๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐น๐ฑ๐บ๐ฑ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฉ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐ณ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐น๐ท๐ธ๐ท๐บ๐ธ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐น๐ณ๐น๐ท๐บ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฐ