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International mission recommends stronger independence of Bulgaria's public broadcasters BNT and BNR

Bulgaria is among the EU countries with the most serious deficit of ​​media freedom
Photo: BTA

Bulgaria continues to be among the EU countries with the most serious deficits in the area of ​​media freedom. This is the conclusion of the Coalition of international organizations working in the field of press freedom, which conducted an exploratory mission in Bulgaria until September 26.

Bulgaria should immediately and transparently implement the European Media Freedom Act - this is the main recommendation made by an international mission on the state of the media environment in Bulgaria. The delegation is led by Pavol Szalai - head of Reporters Without Borders for the European Union and the Balkans. Szalai recalled that according to the latest Reporters Without Borders freedom of expression report, Bulgaria is ranked 70th, which is an improvement compared to the situation 4 years ago, when Bulgaria was in the unenviable 112th place - last in the European community, but even today the measures taken are still not enough:

"Today, Bulgaria's place in the press freedom index is 70th out of 180 countries. This is progress, but the measures taken in Bulgaria to protect journalism are only partial and insufficient. Bulgaria currently remains third from the bottom among the European Union countries. Journalists who cover topics of public interest such as protests, corruption, organized crime, drug and healthcare prices, elections, Schengen and border management continue to be threatened. At the same time, Russian propaganda in the country is probably the strongest since the fall of communism."

So far, the Reporters Without Borders team has spoken with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, the directors general of the public broadcasters Bulgarian National Radio and Bulgarian National Television, and a number of institutions, journalists, and experts.

The Vice President of the Association of European Journalists Irina Nedeva has stressed that there are worrying trends that do not only affect Bulgaria, but are global - the attitude of politicians towards critical journalists is becoming increasingly hostile. Since the beginning of August, the European Media Freedom Act has been implemented as a European regulation, Nedeva pointed out.
“Very often, we, journalists, are the object of refusal to be given interviews, to receive answers to critical questions by politicians, institutions, and of delays,” Nedeva said.

Flutura Kusari of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom has pointed out that the conclusion of the mission is that the legal environment in Bulgaria creates constant risks for journalists.

Among the recommendations of the mission are that the Bulgarian government implement reforms that strengthen the editorial and institutional independence of the public broadcasters Bulgarian National Television (BNT) and Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), while ensuring adequate, sustainable and predictable financial resources for state-owned media. 

According to the report, it is necessary to guarantee a fair and transparent election of directors general at the Bulgarian National Radio and Bulgarian National Television.


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