Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

US State Department report: Bulgaria's fight against corruption "insufficient"

Photo: Facebook/ U.S. Department of State

In its annual 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released Monday, the US State Department  says that the Bulgarian government's actions to tackle corruption and disregard for human rights are "insufficient". 
"Authorities took steps to identify, investigate, prosecute, and punish officials who committed human rights abuses and corruption, but government actions were insufficient, and impunity was a problem," the report says.
Significant human rights issues included cruel or degrading treatment by authorities, including of detainees, migrants, and displaced and institutionalized children; arbitrary arrest; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; serious government corruption; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting members of the Roma community; and crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex persons.
Former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's detention was given as an example of illegal arrest, BNR correspondent Mladen Petkov reports.
A high level of political and economic influence over the media combined with high levels of concentration of ownership is noted. In publishing the reports for all countries, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken pointed out "the individual reports cover 198 countries and territories, providing factual, objective information based on credible reports of the events that occurred throughout 2022."



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

President of Hungary is on a two-day visit to Bulgaria

President Rumen Radev welcomed Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok in Smolyan. The guest visited the Bulgarian home of Hungarian poet, translator and artist László Nagy in the city in the Rhodopes. On October 20, the two presidents held..

published on 10/20/25 1:36 PM
 Apostolos Tzitzikostas.

Bulgaria, Greece and Romania have finalized a memorandum for joint cooperation on transport projects

Bulgaria, Greece and Romania have finalized a memorandum for joint cooperation on new transport projects, said European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas. He stated that an agreement for the..

published on 10/20/25 11:54 AM
The memorial plaque of St. John of Rila on the cathedral in Esztergom, in honor of the Day of Hungarian-Bulgarian Friendship

Bulgarian priest proposes prayer service for successful peace talks in Budapest

Russia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Grushko stated that Moscow has not held talks regarding a possible overflight of President Vladimir Putin’s plane over Poland, Romania and Bulgaria on the way to Budapest. “It is still too early..

published on 10/20/25 9:36 AM