RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service: Svobodna Evropa
RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service, known locally as Svobodna Evropa, has relaunched after a 15-year absence, providing independent reporting and original analysis to help strengthen a media landscape weakened by corruption and the monopolization of media ownership.
Fast Facts
- RFE/RL relaunched its Bulgarian Service in January 2019 in response to declining media freedom and independence inside the country. Operating out of a small bureau in Sofia, the Service is entirely digital, providing balanced and objective news reporting via its website and Facebook page.
- RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service focuses on corruption, rule of law, and the country’s role in NATO and the European Union. Within weeks of its launch, the Service already registered impact, publishing a series of investigative reports in March about luxury apartment sales in Sofia that became known as “Apartmentgate.”
- In 2020, the Bulgarian Service focused on healthcare due to the COVID-19 crisis, presenting stories of suffering people and businesses, fact-checking disinformation and propaganda, and helping people with practical information.
- RFE/RL originally opened its Bulgarian Service in 1950, closing it in 2004 when Bulgaria joined NATO. Though now a member of the European Union, Bulgaria has fallen behind its Balkan neighbors and all other EU states. Reporters Without Borders ranked it 111 out of 180 in its 2020 World Press Freedom Index, and declared that threats and judicial harassment of independent media is such that “journalism is now dangerous in Bulgaria.” The Committee to Protect Journalists has drawn special attention to the dangers and pressures facing investigative reporters.
- The Bulgarian Service was relaunched together with a new Romanian Service in January 2019.
Impact
January – December, 2020
- Website: 16.2 million visits; 59 million page views; 7.9 million unique visitors
- Facebook: 40 million video views; 120,000 followers; 13.9 million engaged users
- YouTube: 540,000 video views; 3,500 subscribers
- Instagram: 31,200 video views; 137,230 IGTV views; 8,500 followers
Updated: January 2021
Facts & Stats about Bulgaria
- Population: 6.97 million (World Bank estimate, 2019)
- Most Common Languages: Bulgarian, Turkish
- Global Freedom Index (Freedom House): Free, 78 out of 100 (2020)
- Press Freedom Index (RSF): 112 out of 180 (2021)
- Corruption Index (Transparency Int.): 69 out of 180 (2020)
- Global Peace Index (IES): 28 out of 163 (2020)
- Amnesty International: Bulgaria Report (2021)