International organisations: Media freedom in Bulgaria undermined by political polarisation, delayed reforms

Media freedom in Bulgaria faces profound challenges amid political polarisation and legislative inertia, and urgent action is needed from the government and other institutions to advance national reforms, as well as those introduced at the European level, a coalition of international media freedom organisations told a news conference on September 26.

After a three-day mission to Sofia, the delegation concluded that progress is needed in preventing and punishing attacks on journalists, resolving the ongoing dispute over the management of the public television, ensuring the independence of the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), and adopting legislation against SLAPPs.

In spite of the important work of key journalist associations, the level of solidarity within the journalistic profession is low, the mission reported.

The mission, organised by the Council of Europe Platform for the Safety of Journalists and the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) initiative , also found that Bulgaria is lagging behind in implementing the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which has been in force since August 2025. The government working group has suspended its activities, with no clarity on when discussions with all relevant institutions and stakeholders will resume.

The mission was not given the opportunity to discuss the issue with the body responsible for media policy, the Ministry of Culture, which was the only public institution that refused to meet with the delegation, despite repeated invitations.

Following the mission, the partner organisations jointly call for greater political will and cross-party support to address the deepening institutional paralysis and advance much-needed reforms under EMFA, which, if properly implemented, will help guarantee media freedom, pluralism, and independence.

Although serious physical attacks on journalists in Bulgaria remain relatively rare, media representatives told the mission that general hostility towards the journalistic profession has increased in recent years.

The mission called on the authorities to immediately investigate several attacks on journalists registered on the Platform for the Safety of Journalists and to bring the perpetrators to justice. Political pressure, including intimidation and insults by politicians against journalists, remains a cause for concern, although cases of direct political pressure on journalists have decreased compared to previous years.

There are currently 34 active reports on the Council of Europe’s Journalists’ Safety Platform , relating to attacks on journalists or threats to media freedom. Physical attacks account for a third of the cases, although their number has also decreased compared to previous years. Threats, including death threats, remain a serious problem but are rarely sanctioned by the authorities.

The mission notes the low levels of trust among journalists in law enforcement and the prosecution to ensure justice in cases of attacks. Previous cases involving police violence against journalists have been subject to delays in justice. Some stakeholders expressed continuing concerns about politicised investigations by the prosecution against media outlets. The mission welcomes the support of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the President for proposals to monitor and document serious cases and to strengthen provisions in the Criminal Code by introducing higher penalties for those convicted of attacks on journalists.

The legal environment in Bulgaria poses ongoing risks for journalists. According to journalists the mission met, there are dozens of active strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) targeting media outlets and journalists. Investigative journalists and those who expose crime and corruption are among the most targeted by SLAPPs, with large companies and insurance companies, politicians and judges among the most common plaintiffs. Many of these cases involve excessive claims for financial damages.

The mission welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s preparations to transpose the 2024 Anti-SLAPP Directive. However, organisations are concerned that attention seems to be focused solely on the implementation of the EU Directive, without the same attention being paid to the Council of Europe Recommendation on SLAPP . A major concern is that criminal prosecution for defamation remains a legal instrument in Bulgaria and policymakers missed the opportunity to decriminalise the act completely during the recent amendments to the Criminal Code.

Recent changes have reduced the minimum fines for insult and defamation and removed the automatic aggravated qualification when the person concerned is a public official. The reforms also introduced the possibility of exemption from criminal liability and its replacement with administrative sanctions in cases involving insult or defamation of public officials acting in their official capacity. However, the continued criminalisation of defamation remains incompatible with international standards on freedom of expression and continues to allow the strategic use of criminal law against the media and journalists.

Repeated election cycles and the subsequent disruption of government working groups have delayed reforms that are desperately needed to create a healthy media ecosystem in Bulgaria. Although initial work has been done to prepare for the implementation of EMFA, which is due to enter into full force in August 2025, the mission learned that the Ministry of Culture has suspended the process.

The implementation of the EMFA is vital to addressing many of the systemic challenges to media freedom and pluralism in Bulgaria . The mission concluded that the country suffers from certain levels of media capture, with the opacity of media ownership, especially of anonymous online media, and the opacity of state advertising being among the most acute problems. At the local and regional level, the economic dependence of media outlets on advertising by local authorities exposes them to financial pressure and in many cases weakens their editorial independence.

Media pluralism in Bulgaria remains limited, and independent journalism is under pressure from many sides, including ownership interference, self-censorship, threats to the economic viability of investigative journalism, and ongoing concerns about the independence of major broadcasters. Although Bulgaria has professional investigative journalists who investigate crime and corruption, they operate in an environment of pressure, including death threats, harassment, and malicious lawsuits.

The legislative climate for access to information is weak and continues to be challenging, with journalists facing obstacles stemming from a general culture of non-transparency in government. Requests for interviews with political leaders are routinely denied, and applications under the Access to Public Information Act are often either ignored or partially granted. Parliamentary reporters continue to face disproportionate restrictions on their movement in the new Parliament building, limiting their ability to exercise scrutiny.

The precarious working conditions of many journalists in Bulgaria, including low pay and weak labour protections, create additional challenges for the profession, undermining the ability of media workers to confront threats to editorial independence in their newsrooms.

Institutional and regulatory dysfunction, problematic media ownership, and political influence have combined to weaken public trust in journalism in Bulgaria, with the country ranked among the lowest in Europe in trust in news and among the highest in news avoidance .

This has created a vacuum in which disinformation can more easily spread, especially on social media. Despite this clear threat, the government has not created a national strategy against disinformation, with the work of the multi-stakeholder Bulgarian Coalition against Disinformation remaining frozen since 2023. It is vital that Bulgaria quickly appoints and empowers a national Digital Services Coordinator (DSC) and establishes sanctions rules under the European Digital Services Act ( DSA ).

Following the mission, the partner organizations call on the European Commission to closely monitor the implementation of EMFA in Bulgaria, to provide concrete and measurable recommendations within the Rule of Law Report, to deepen conditionality regarding European funds, and to use all available tools to ensure compliance with EMFA, the Anti-SLAPP Directive, and other European standards, such as the Digital Services Act.