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."