Bulgaria is among the few European countries that have announced the achievement of the objectives of the "Europe 2020" strategy on renewable energy. At the same time, the sector is said to be in crisis and unsustainable. Our report
Media concentration and lack of ownership transparency are a major obstacle to media pluralism and freedom in Bulgaria. According to media law expert Nelly Ognyanova, neither of these obstacles can be removed without political will. Interview
In Bulgaria, freedom of the press and expression has dramatically declined in recent years. Among the principle causes are media concentration, self-censorship and pressure on journalists. We spoke about this with Professor Orlin Spasov
The upcoming European elections (May 25, 2014) in Bulgaria will take place in the wake of a period of significant social and political tension. For this reason, many observers believe that they will offer a meaningful referendum on the current, and controversial, center-left government
Hundreds of Syrian refugees have crossed the Bulgarian border fleeing the war. About 500 have been placed in the transit center of Pastrogor, near the border with Greece and Turkey. Our report
As a litmus test, the recent election campaign in Bulgaria brought to light the problematic relationship between media and power in the country. The Bulgarian information system shows serious and structural problems: lack of transparency on properties, centralisation of newspapers, economic and political pressure on journalists. In recent years the situation has been getting worse
Although Bulgaria and Romania have met the technical requirements, Bucharest and Sofia will indefinitely remain outside of the Schengen area. A long list of unresolved issues with the two Balkan countries provides substantial reasons for exclusion, but the main problem seems to lie in the increasing fragility of the European political project
In the Balkans the era of bloody conflicts is over. But instead of proceeding along the difficult path of dialogue, many are scrambling to raise walls to keep the "other" at a safe distance. And even the European Union doesn't seem immune from such temptations. A comment
For the last 13 years, Bulgaria's Islamic community has been split by competing leaderships. However, the fight for control of the General Council of the Muftis – the representative body of Islam in Bulgaria – is not only a clash between factions but also between old and new generations
Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece. Three separate nations united by the Evros-Meriç-Maritsa, today the last door for the muhajirins attempting to land in Europe. Maybe Mussa Khan has already passed here, but more and more of his traveling companions are losing their lives in the dark meanders of the river
They make the most of electronic communication and low-cost flights. They live inbetween the “here” of their country of origin, and the “there” of the one they have chosen to work in. They use multiple identities. They are the “Euro-nomads”, a group on the constant rise, even in Bulgaria
For the Western viewer, a well-acted comedy; for the Bulgarian audience, crazy laughs as well as disillusionment for the broken dreams of transition and an elite that turned out to be dishonest and useless. Now in cinemas, Mission London, from Alek Popov's best-seller
Despite their joint access to the EU in 2007, Bulgarians and Romanians continue to live with outdated stereotypes. Political, economic, social, informational exchange between Bucharest and Sofia remains not simply unsatisfactory, but practically absent
The debacle of Bulgarian European Commissioner Rumyana Zheleva was the first blow to Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's government. Although it is still too early to assess the consequences of Zheleva’s defeat at the national and international levels, the governing party's criteria for choosing its highest-ranking officials should be called into question
Amos Oz is one of the best-known names in world literature. An Israeli novelist, essayist, and political activist, Oz is a fervent supporter of the need to reach compromise in order to overcome conflicts. Our correspondent met him in Sofia
On November 10th, 1989, Bulgaria sees the end of Zhivkov and the single party. The events of that year, the ethnic question, and the attempts at lustration in an interview with Zhelyu Zhelev, philosopher and dissident in the years of the regime and first democratically elected president after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
In Bulgaria, a few months after the fall of the Wall in 1989, the Communist regime triggered the exodus towards Turkey of 360,000 Bulgarian citizens of Turkish ethnicity. The mass exodus, gone down in history as the "big excursion", has left deep scars on the people who lived it. Our reportage
Boyko Borisov, leader of the rightwing and winner of the recent national elections will be the next Bulgarian prime minister. But where does he come from and who is Borisov, known by everybody as "Brother Boyko"? The story of his rise to political power
Just before the start of the electoral campaign, Macedonian prime minister Gruevski announced a massive plan to invest in infrastructures. Little resources, though, seems to have been allocated to revive the "European Corridor 8", meant to link the Adriatic to the Black Sea
She came to Greece seven years ago as a migrant. Ever since, she has been fighting for the rights of the "modern slaves", the cleaners. Until a dramatic attempt to silence her forever. This is the story of Konstantina Kuneva, the symbol of 8 March in Greece
On 8 February 2009, Switzerland will decide by referendum whether or not to approve an agreement with the European Union which would extend to Bulgaria and Romania the right of free movement of persons through its territory. For the two Balkan countries, the vote, especially if negative, will test the strength of European solidarity
"The 'new Bulgarian demons' are nothing else but the old ones dressed in new clothes; a mix of the nomenclature and the secret services of the regime." An interview with German journalist Jürgen Roth, author of a book on organised crime in Bulgaria, which stirred debate in Sofia and beyond
How was organized crime in Bulgaria born and how did it develop over recent years? Who are its protagonists? And what was its response to the challenges posed by the entry of the country into the EU? An interview with Tihomir Bezlov, senior analyst of the Center for the Study of Democracy
The latest enlargement was greeted with not much fuss in Macedonia. Life goes on and very few politicians responded with statements or analyses. Bulgaria, being closer, receives more attention. Romania is already far away
In 1999 Macedonia and Bulgaria signed a bilateral agreement, wherein they committed not to interfere with each other's internal affairs. Since then their relations have been quite friendly, in spite of the old quarrels about history and language, which have never been solved and keep re-emerging
Ethnic Bulgarians have a very low birth rate. According to some, this could put at risk the economic growth, while others are afraid of the unstoppable growth of the Turkish and Roma communities. Bulgaria is stirred by demographic anguish, and now president Parvanov decided to act
