Bulgaria occupies 111^th position in the World Press Freedom Index of Reporters without Borders, out of a total of 180 countries. Media in this country was also in the focus of the first European Commission report on rule of law within the EU published at the end of September. The European Commission is concerned over the lack of transparency of media ownership in Bulgaria, as well as the connections established between politicians and some media outlets even though there is no explicit prohibition on politicians owning media.

Against this background an online discussion of media freedom in Bulgaria is taking place today, with main guest Vice President of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová. This event of crucial importance to society in this country is organized by Euractiv with the financial support of the European Parliament group of the socialists and democrats. The forum will be hosted by journalist and MEP Elena Yoncheva.

“Bulgaria is already the target of three different kinds of monitoring. It would be a good thing if the problems were resolved at a national level, instead of seeking European mechanisms,” said for the BNR Georgi Gotev, publisher of Euractiv for Bulgaria who will be moderator of the discussion of the media situation in the country. He stated further that 111^th position in the ranking of the prestigious organization is highly unsatisfactory:

“That is precisely what the discussion is about because this is not normal. There was a time when we were much higher up. Since Bulgaria joined the EU, the country has constantly been slipping, contrary to all logic. There is no guarantee that once a country becomes a member of the EU these problems will be solved. In our case things in Bulgaria took the worst possible direction,” Georgi Gotev says.

Can we have suspicions that spending European funding in ways that are not particularly honest, and funneling it towards certain media outlets following criteria that are not at all clear, has contributed strongly to this 111^th position?

“Regrettably, journalism as a profession in Bulgaria has not proved strong enough to be able to get the better of the powers-that-be. European money in this country is distributed by the administration and, unfortunately it is spent on asserting a vicious model in which the media is being turned into the government’s mouthpiece. This is one of the questions we shall raise before European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová – how is it possible that they should turn a blind eye to the fact that huge amounts of European funding for media advertising are being handed over to the government to redistribute? Is there no other way that is fairer?

How big a risk is there that all this will be swept under the carpet?

“I am an optimist because, with all of its flaws, Bulgaria is a country with very hard-hitting investigative journalism. I have been living in Belgium for 12 years, and the investigative journalism there is not as robust as it is in Bulgaria. My hopes are also pinned on the fact that a European Chief Prosecutor is now entering office. Investigative journalism in Bulgaria is a gold mine which the European prosecutors can turn to. Until now it was not possible for misappropriation of European funds to be investigated the normal way because it comes down to the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office and the Bulgarian authorities, and that gets us nowhere. For the first time European prosecutors will be able to investigate these outrages and for this, they will be able to rely on investigative journalism.I am expecting some really interesting things to happen very soon.”

Is that an instrument via which we can rely on Europe?

“Yes, I do not believe that nothing is changing,” Georgi Gotev says. “We saw how Europe, within a short space of time, from “turning a blind eye”, has now opened its eyes to what is happening in this country. And I definitely do not believe that Bulgaria’s image has been undermined, on the contrary – people in Europe have realized that Bulgarian society has awakened. That is the big news from Bulgaria.”

Interview by Veselina Milanova, Horizont channel, BNR