On June 6, the Khabar agency made an announcement that Kazakhstan is withdrawing its participation from the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023, which is to take place in the French city of Nice, QazMonitor reports citing Eurovoix.
Daniyar Tussupbekov, the head of the department for international cooperation and distribution at Khabar, commented to Eurofestivales on the country's withdrawal, bringing a five-year run of competing at the contest to an end.
"I am sorry to inform you that this year the Khabar agency will not participate. Therefore, Kazakhstan will not appear on the list of participants. In fact, it is very sad to announce this decision," said Tussupbekov.
However, he remains hopeful that Khabar will return to Junior Eurovision next year. Tussupbekov added that the agency's decision not to broadcast Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool due to the high cost of securing the rights to air the event may not apply to Junior Eurovision in Nice, and Khabar might still broadcast this year’s Junior Eurovision for Kazakh audiences.
The agency has not confirmed the reason for the withdrawal, but the news follows announcements of abstention from Bulgaria, Montenegro, and North Macedonia from this year's Eurovision due to financial reasons.