"I thank the Croatian government for the €50,000 reward, but I cannot accept it (...) because there are a lot of other individuals and organisations that need this money more than I do," Marko Purišić, better known by his stage name Baby Lasagna, wrote on Instagram.
He asked Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to donate €25,000 to the Mladen Ćepulić Institute for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology and the remaining €25,000 to the Department of Hematology, Oncology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation at the KBC Zagreb hospital.
The caretaker government decided at its meeting on Thursday to reward Marko Purišić for his performance at this year's Eurovision Song Contest and for his contribution to the promotion of Croatia abroad.
Baby Lasagna finished second in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with his song Rim Tim Tagi Dim, Croatia's best result to date. Switzerland's Nemo claimed victory with the song The Code.