The insurance company Lev Ins has filed a lawsuit at the Sofia City Court against the media outlet Mediapool for 1 million Leva (over EUR 500,000) with the motive that it was offended by an article from 27 September, 2022 in which practically cites a transcript of a Council of Ministers meeting. The article is entitled “Bulgaria once again at risk of being excluded from the Green Card system”, and subtitle indicating that the state authorities are holding negotiations with the insurance company for reducing its debts.

In an interview with the BNR, the insurance company’s lawyer Pavel Dimitrov stated that the title of the publication “aims to cause Bulgarian citizens distress, fear and serious concern that the company has not paid its liabilities”. Attorney at law Alexander Kashumov, Executive Director of the Access to Information programme commented, again in an interview with the BNR, that this constituted “a violation of the freedom of speech”.

“A lawsuit such as this can destroy a media outlet! Filing such a lawsuit will place Bulgaria at the top of the list of countries, registered by the Council of Europe, as regards SLAPP lawsuits in Europe,” Alexander Kashumov said. In his words this is the biggest claim in the whole of Bulgaria’s history.