site.btaPresident Radev: Democratic Society Is Possible When There Are Free and Independent Media

“The development of a democratic society is possible only when there are free, independent media that expose the lies and deception and are a real corrective to the authorities,” President Rumen Radev said in Varshets on Monday. He was speaking at a closing conference under the project "Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills" within the framework of the 20th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, with Bulgarian-language media from 25 countries.

Radev said that the forum has a broad outlook on regional imbalances in Bulgaria, on natural resources and on the prospects of the Northwestern region in Bulgaria, and on knowledge, talents and Bulgaria's future as an equal member of the EU. In his words, to make all this a reality, “we must have the strongest tools, namely information and knowledge”. “How we will use them depends a lot on the media. Our attention to the media should not weaken, on the contrary, we should be highly engaged in what is happening with our media,” Radev said.

According to the President, state institutions should reconsider the legal framework and new approaches to financing state media so that they are not dependent on the government or foreign influences. Radev expected a revision of the legal framework to increase the transparency not only of media ownership but also of the processes that unfold in the media. “People have the right to know who is speaking to them on air, who is creating content, whether this content corresponds to the real processes in society and whether someone has already paid for this content and shaped it according to their own interests,” the head of State said.

Radev acknowledged the contribution of Bulgarian media abroad to the promotion of Bulgarian identity. “We like to say that Bulgaria extends as far as there are Bulgarians. For this spiritual space, these spiritual borders of Bulgaria, to be vibrant and healthy, there must be a strong connection with our compatriots abroad,” the President said. He stressed that it is the media that preserves and strengthens this bond with the motherland of all our compatriots abroad. He added that the Bulgarian media abroad is not only a mouthpiece, but also a defender of their interests and their problems. The media have the function to include them, but also to unite them around Bulgarian culture, identity and traditions, he noted.

Bulgaria is already recognized as a high-tech country with a contribution to the future, to the development of space technologies, AI, information technologies, Radev said, stressing that this is largely due to the media. “We are obliged to spread this modern tale about Bulgaria all over the world, because this is our chance to become much more active and solid in all global and regional processes,” the President said.