Czech public TV will not send an act to Eurovision 2027 in Burgas because its budget has been cut, the broadcaster said on X.

"We will not see the Czech flag on stage next year," it wrote. It hopes the Czech Republic will return to the contest later. Under the rules, only broadcasters that belong to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) can send an act.

The coalition led by billionaire Andrej Babis wants to change how public media are funded and has promised to cut their subsidies. Both the TV channel and the radio have already announced job cuts and changes to their programmes.

Parliament, where Babis's coalition has a majority, has not yet voted on the reform. In June, the TV channel and the radio held a symbolic strike against the plan.

Critics, including the group Reporters Without Borders, condemn the proposal. They say it threatens the independence of public media. Babis's opponents say he wants to limit that independence, as his allies do: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who lost the election in April.

Ireland and Spain have already said they will boycott the Burgas contest because Israel is taking part. They are among the five countries that skipped the contest this year, along with the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia. The five want to know why Israel is allowed to compete despite the military action in the Gaza Strip, while Russia was banned soon after it invaded Ukraine.

The Czech Republic has never won Eurovision. This year in Vienna in May, Czech singer Daniel Zizka came 16th with the song "Crossroads". The contest was won by Bulgaria's DARA.

In Burgas, the first semi-final will take place on Tuesday, 11 May, the second on Thursday, 13 May, and the final on Saturday, 15 May.