Serbia And Montenegro have officially withdrawn from Eurovision following that previously reported disagreement over claims that Montenegrin judges cheated to give their own state's representative the chance to represent the federation at this year's song contest.
As you will remember, the winning band, No Name, were booed from the stage by a mainly serb audience at the country's own version of our 'Making Your Mind Up' show earlier this month. Serbia subsequently called for the competition to be re-run, but Montenegro refused to agree, and no solution to the problem has been found. The European Broadcasting Union was officially informed of the decision at a meeting in Athens.
Aleksandar Tijanic, the head of Serbian broadcaster RTS said in a statement: "It would be better for all of us not to have a representative at the contest in Athens. Otherwise, we would have to accept manipulations, pressures and blackmails imposed by the music clans and political mentors who brought us to this embarrassing situation."
Tijanic is also head of UJRT, an organisation which exists to mediate between broadcasters from Serbia and Montenegro. All of the members of that board agree that the Montenegrin judges, who did not give any points to any Serbian acts at the contest, have violated the statute and the spirit of the Eurovision Song Contest. It's good news for Croatia however; they have now been given a place in the final and will now no longer have to take part in the qualifying round.