Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova are back at the Eurovision Song Contest. Within the space of one week the European Broadcasting Union announced the returns of three former entrants who were all missing from last year’s edition in Basel.
For each of them the decision to return to seems to rest on several motivations, motivations that are in some ways shared, but in many ways are unique.
Bulgaria: Sharing Cultures and Stories
BNT has framed its return as part of a mission to showcase Bulgarian culture and talent to a global audience. As Director General Emil Koshlukov put it, “Eurovision is a stage where cultures meet and stories are shared. BNT supports talented artists, and we are happy that we were able to once again provide an opportunity for a Bulgarian artist to represent our country in front of an audience of millions.”
In addition, board member of BNT Anton Andonov notes that timing was also a factor, with the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest marking the 70th edition of the Song Contest will mark the 70th edition of Eurovision, and being part of its “history” was part of the decision-making factor.
Today, there is a renewed ambition of the Bulgarian broadcaster to take Bulgaria further beyond its borders. We’ve seen in the past year that BNT has begun contributing to A European Perspective, a multi-national news-sharing platform allowing for news stories from one country to be easily shared with other participating broadcasters.
Furthermore, the vision of BNT to promote Bulgarian history, culture, language, and traditions hasn’t just been an on-paper goal, it’s been a funded priority. Last year, BNT announced a new competition series for filmmakers, featuring a range of genres, from musicals to short films, to showcase Bulgarian culture on its screens. BNT is a broadcaster on the rise, increasing its reach domestically from 50 percent of the population to 60 percent since 2022, and receiving a budget increase of 7.7 percent from 2024 to 2025.
Thus, for BNT, the return is at the right place, right time. There’s a greater focus on promoting Bulgarian culture, which means more funding can be allocated to projects that support this effort. The 70th edition of Eurovision is one such project that can benefit from this increased attention.
Bulgaria has qualified in four of their last five participations, including two top-four placements, and they were the bookies’ favourites to win in 2020 when that contest was sadly cancelled. Should they return with the same attitude and quality, they will be a massive asset to the Song Contest in Vienna.
Romania’s Adapted Invitation
While Bulgaria has been absent from Eurovision for three editions, Romania’s absence has been for just two, withdrawing after the 2023 edition in Liverpool, where they received zero points in the Semi Final.
At the time of withdrawal, the Romanian broadcaster TVR noted that budgetary factors were the primary reason, and ultimately, only five of the thirteen board members approved a budget for Eurovision participation at a board-level vote. Instead, the broadcaster prioritised broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games as well as investment domestically in new headquarters and technology to take the broadcaster forward.
Financial issues were highlighted again in 2025 as reasons for staying away from Eurovision in Basel, but now with further nuance. Speaking in April, TVR’s Director General Dan Turturicӑalso highlighted another issue – the search for songs and artists.
Turturicӑ argued that a “reset” was needed in the relationship between TVR and the music industry. Unlike Bulgaria, Romania’s recent run at Eurovision has been subpar, failing to qualify on four of their last five participations. As a result, attracting the nation’s top artists and record labels to collaborate with the broadcaster has become increasingly challenging.
“We will return to Eurovision when we can truly bring to the Eurovision stage from Romania artists who are truly at the top of the music industry,” concluded Turturicӑ.
And that time is now. Turturicӑ promises that the broadcaster is ready for change, with a “more competitive selection process” and “a show matching the scale of the Contest” promised in the upcoming months. The goal is thereafter to “consistently increase the quality of our presence” at the Song Contest – showing desire not just to compete but also to succeed at the Song Contest.
However, while the Romanian broadcaster has grand plans to take the country’s Eurovision participation forward, another factor the broadcaster clearly mentions is support from the EBU. Turturicӑ states publicly that the EBU “adapted its invitation” to the Romanian broadcaster, “taking into account the challenges” that TVR has. While details on these adaptations are not public, it is well-documented that Romania’s Eurovision participation (costing a total of nearly €400,000 in 2023) has been a stumbling block in previous years.
While Romania is a nation of nearly 20 million people, with TVR’s main channel only receiving an audience share of 1.4% (2023 figures), the broadcaster is significantly smaller in stature than many of its contemporaries. It is stated that 80% of the total budget at TVR is spent on salaries, thereby reducing the broadcaster’s ability to invest in and participate in international events, such as the Eurovision Song Contest. In recent years, participation fees for Eurovision have increased significantly, over 10% between 2022 and 2023, and if any broadcaster would struggle to legitimise those increases, it would be one based in Bucharest.
Hopefully, with the new vision, new collaborations and new drive, Romania can return to their Eurovision heyday, when from 2008 to 2017 Romania qualified for nine Eurovision Grand Finals in a row.
Moldova: From Crisis To Creativity
Moldova is also set to return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2026, after missing the 2025 edition. Moldova’s decision to skip 2025 was made relatively late, with a decision made in January that year, even after auditions for the country’s national final had taken place.
Yet, before those 12 selected acts vied for one Eurovision ticket, Moldova decided to withdraw from Eurovision in Basel. A joint press conference by Moldova1 Director Corneliu Durnescu and Head of Delegation Daniela Crudu explained that the decision was made following an analysis of the “economic, administrative and artistic challenges” that the broadcaster was facing.
Artistic challenges were clear to see. Moldova had only succeeded in 2025 in bringing 26 songs to an audition stage, and Moldovan TV leadership believed that the final twelve finalists “generated a negative perception” with their announcement.
The timing was not particularly great for the country of Moldova either. In January 2025, a transit deal for Russian gas, which arrived in Transnistria via Ukraine, expired. This affected the Cuciurgan power station in Transnistria, which was the primary source of electricity for Moldova. Now requiring electricity supply from Romania, this effectively doubled the cost of electricity in Moldova overnight. At a time when the government in Moldova is pushing emergency budgets to try and combat soaring inflation and urgent infrastructure investment, could a state broadcaster legitimise competing in a Song Contest that hadn’t attracted the quality of song and artist that the country was proud of?
Now, less than a year on, the news from Moldova is wildly different. Moldova is back at Eurovision, announcing a new National Final format to be held in the 5,000-capacity modern Chisinau Arena on the outskirts of the capital. Aiming to make their Eurovision selection credible again, Serghei Orlov, a producer who has worked with, amongst others, Sunstroke Project, and music video creator Roman Burlaca, will head up the new project, seeking to bring the top artists back to competing in song.
The goal is simple: to ensure the selection process is seen as “professional and transparent” to attract stronger names to the competition, and to drive forward to ensure “international competitiveness” when reaching the Eurovision stage. Winners of the National Final will receive a prize to help fund their Eurovision participation, as well as dedicated support from mid-January all the way to Vienna in May.
While energy costs and the cost of living in Moldova remain significantly higher today than they were last year, the government in Moldova has agreed on a two-year strategy with the European Union to increase energy independence and reduce energy bills. The shock of the spike in energy costs has now been mitigated. Instead, we meet a Moldova that wants to return to Eurovision and take its place on the international stage. For Moldova, there has always been an understanding that Eurovision is one of the best ways to spread knowledge of the country and its culture beyond its borders. In 2015, at the Moldovan National Final, then Head of Delegation Vitalie Rotaru stated that it is through Eurovision that Moldova “gets known in Europe” and puts the small country on the map.
However, that’s also why it is essential to do it correctly. To make sure Moldova’s three minutes on stage are something the country gets behind, and that uses the platform of Eurovision to brand Moldova as a nation in a way that puts Moldova forward.
Three Paths To One Stage
While Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova each return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2026 for their own reasons, their decisions share an underlying desire for renewal and return to the global stage. All three broadcasters view Eurovision not merely as a song competition, but as a public act of visibility, showcasing not only their country on an international platform, but also demonstrating that their public service broadcaster can compete as an equal against the likes of RAI, BBC, and others.
For Bulgaria’s BNT, the return is built on confidence. With rising budgets, a growing reach, and a clear mission to export culture and creativity, Eurovision 2026 is the perfect time and market to promote Bulgarian culture outward. For Romania’s TVR, it is about transformation. Finally, they have confidence that they can mend a broken relationship with the music industry and believe it can attract new viewers back to the state broadcaster through the medium of song and contest. And for Moldova’s TRM, the comeback is about recovery. As Moldova emerges from an energy crisis and a selection lacking inspiration, there’s a new desire to not just be at the Song Contest, but to do as well as possible on one of Moldova’s most significant international platforms for cultural branding.
All three return to the Song Contest at the same time, but for different reasons. However, they converge to remind us that Eurovision remains one of the most effective stages for speaking to the continent, celebrating national creativity, and for public broadcasters to be part of one of the most significant cultural events around. That is especially true in catching younger, newer audiences to public service output, vital for the long-term success of their broadcasters’ existence and viability.
We are well aware that in recent months the Eurovision brand has faced its share of turbulence. Discussions over Israel’s participation, alongside threats of boycott from several participating broadcasters, have pushed the contest into a realm of politics that has often felt heavy, divisive and out of place with what Eurovision should stand for.
In such a climate, it has not been easy during 2025 to have constructive conversations about the positive aspects of the Song Contest. Yet, against this backdrop, the returns of Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova stand out particularly significantly. Their decisions to rejoin in 2026 reflect a fresh focus on culture, artistic excellence, and international visibility, offering a reminder that, at its best, Eurovision remains a stage for hope, creativity, and shared experience rather than a political forum.
It helps that Vienna, with the upcoming hosting of what will be Eurovision’s 70th edition, provides a huge catalyst to bring more together to be a part of the parade and party that the Song Contest can and should be.
The returns of these three nations, and the rationale with which they want to return, are a timely reminder of the power of good that the Song Contest can and should ultimately be.