Lack of Transparency, Pluralism Contribute to Bulgaria's Declining Media Freedom

The lack of transparency of media ownership and the decreasing media pluralism are among the main factors contributing to Bulgaria's declining media freedom.

This was one of the most common opinions expressed by participants at a discussion entitled "The risks to freedom of expression".

The event was held at the House of Europe in Sofia on Thursday and was organised by the Information Office of the European Parliament in Bulgaria.

Among the participants were Alexandra Geneste, head of the EU-Balkans desk at Reporters Without Borders, Snezhana Todorova, chairperson of the Union of Bulgarian Journalists and Kristina Hristova from the Association of European Journalists - Bulgaria.

According to the latest annual World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders, Bulgaria continues to experience noticeable problems in the field of media freedom.

In 2015, the country ranked 106th out of a total of 180 countries, recording a drop of six positions compared to last year. In addition to this, Bulgaria had the lowest ranking among all the 28 member states of the EU.

However Bulgaria is not the only European country to experience decline in media freedom as this is the case across the whole continent.

Although European countries continue to occupy the top of the ranking, their overall performance has decreased.

The erosion of pluralism, lack of transparency and concentration of media ownership are among the most common problems found across Europe.

Furthermore, there were more instances of censorship and more physical attacks, with political and economic circles continuing to exert pressure on journalists.

One of the main reasons for the drop in Bulgaria's ranking were the large-scale anti-government protests...