BRUSSELS, Belgium – Following a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov on Thursday in Brussels, the non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres, RSF) welcomed his willingness and commitment to strengthening media freedom and the right to information in Bulgaria, RSF said on Friday.
The organization assured that it will continue to monitor the implementation of these goals in Bulgaria.
In the course of the conversation on the sidelines of the European Council meeting in Brussels Denkov responded positively to the RSF's call to take action in support of press freedom and the right of Bulgarian citizens to have access to reliable news and information.
Denkov expressed particular concern about the "misinformation and strong pressure journalists are subjected to in Bulgaria" and pointed out that his government is ready to use the experience of RSF to implement the necessary reforms at national and European level.
Denkov and RSF agreed to cooperate to guarantee press freedom and the right to information, using the experience and initiatives of RSF.
"We welcome Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov's willingness to implement the necessary reforms to guarantee press freedom and the right to reliable information. We will remain vigilant in this difficult context and will be available to contribute to concrete results," RSF said in a statement.
According to the Reporters Without Borders' 2023 global media freedom index, Bulgaria is ranked 71st out of 180 countries, climbing 41 places in the ranking for the past two years. (BTA)
