Bulgaria Ranks Lowest Among All EU Countries in Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index

Bulgaria is ranked lower in the World Press Freedom Index 2017 than any other European Union member, Reporters Without Borders said in its annual report on the index, quoted by BGNES.

"This is due to an environment dominated by corruption and collusion between media, politicians, and oligarchs including Deylan Peevski, a former head of Bulgaria's main intelligence agency and owner of the New Bulgarian Media Group," Reporters Without Borders said.

Bulgaria is 109th out of a total of 180 countries. The first three are the Scandinavian countries - Norway, Sweden and Finland. The last three are Turkmenistan, Eritrea, and North Korea is at the bottom.

Reporters Without Borders said that its 2017 index shows an increase in the number of countries where the media freedom situation is very grave and highlights the scale and variety of the obstacles to media freedom throughout the world.

The index "shows that violations of the freedom to inform are less and less the prerogative of authoritarian regimes and dictatorships.