Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced that his government will reward the musician Marko Purišić, known professionally as Baby Lasagna, after winning the second place at Eurovision 2024. Croatian media informed that the government made the decision to grant 50,000 euros to the singer at their session of May 16.
Twenty eitht year-old Purišić thanked the government via his Instagram profile, saying that he won’t accept the money, because there are other individuals or organisations which need them more.
“I thank the Croatian government for the cash prize of 50,000 euros. However, I cannot accept this money. I could give many reasons, but the first, most important and sufficient reason is that there are many other individuals and organizations that this money will help much more. I hereby ask that Mr. Plenković, on my behalf and on behalf of the Croatian Government, to donate 25,000 euros to the Institute of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology of the ‘Mladen Ćepulić’ Day Hospital. Additionally, I would like to donate the remaining 25,000 euros to the Institute of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, KBC Zagreb,” the musician wrote.
Purišić and his team won thе second place at the Eurovision Song Contest this year, which is the biggest success for independent Croatia in the history of this competition. Eurovision itself doesn’t provide monetary awards to the participants and winners.
