A member of Equinox, the group which represented Bulgaria in 2018, has confirmed on Twitter that Bulgaria are withdrawing from the Eurovision Song Contest. JJ, also known by his full name Georgi Simeonov, said “it’s extremely sad and disappointing” that Bulgaria will withdraw from the event. In a later tweet, he then went on to say that it was due to finance, rather than performance.

I'm extremely sad and disappointed to hear that Bulgaria is withdrawing from Eurovision. It was one if the few opportunities for the Bulgarian performers….

— JJ (@itsJJofficial) October 13, 2018

Cryptic tweets allow Eurovision fans to decipher the news
Throughout yesterday evening, the official Twitter account for the Bulgarian delegation was publishing messages which thank a large array of individuals that have helped the nation progress at both the Eurovision Song Contest and Junior Eurovision Song Contest over the past four years.

Bulgaria has earned second place in both contests, has successfully hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Sofia and gained a lot of respect within the Eurovision fanbase for turning their fortunes around so dramatically and gaining three consecutive qualifications to the Final in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

A big gratitude also to Krisia, Hasan & Ibrahim, Poli Genova, Gabriela Yordanova and Ivan Stoyanov, @KristianKostov_ , Lidia Ganeva, all 5+1 members of @EquinoxBulgaria and last but not least our great partners from Virginia Records, Symphonix International and Seven Eight Prod.

— BNT Eurovision Bulgaria

BNT will release a statement as soon as possible. The broadcaster will clarify all the facts and reasons, and we will answer all the questions of the fans. Thank you for your interest. We are sorry for the situation.

— BNT Eurovision Bulgaria

Whilst we still await the press release, we previously reported that the departing Eurovision project co-ordinator for Bulgaria marked his final day by writing “the most difficult press release”. At the time, it had become clear to ESCXTRA that things had turned sour fast for Bulgaria and all signs were pointing to a shock withdrawal.

Based on the tweets alone, and without a press release to confirm our thinking, this seems to be a decision which has been taken by the broadcaster about Eurovision but not by the hard-working delegation which has turned the nation’s fortunes around at the Eurovision Song Contest.