site.btaParliamentary Culture Committee Chair Yordanov Says Meeting with National TV, Radio and Media Watchdog Won’t Be Cancelled

The Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Culture and Media, Toshko Yordanov, announced that he will not cancel the committee meeting scheduled for Thursday—even if the plenary session ends at 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. He made this statement from the parliamentary rostrum ahead of the vote on the Waste Management Act amendments, which had sparked prolonged debates.

Currently, employees of Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), Bulgarian National Television (BNT), and the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) are protesting for higher salaries. A meeting with representatives of BNT, BNR, and the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) is scheduled to take place with the Committee to address this issue, Yordanov said.

At the start of his remarks, he expressed concern that the Committee session might be cancelled if the plenary debates extended past 5:00 p.m. He criticized the use of time for “pointless debates” that allow MPs to appear at the rostrum simply for visibility. “If we finish around 4:00 pm or 5:00 pm, I will not cancel the Committee meeting—it will take place,” Yordanov said. He added that a prior meeting with representatives of BNT and the protesters had already produced concrete decisions aimed at improving the situation.

According to the National Assembly’s website, the Culture Committee meeting is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. The agenda includes briefings from BNT Director General Emil Koshlukov and BNR Director General Milen Mitev on current issues concerning the two public broadcasters.

On Thursday, employees of Bulgaria’s public media outlets are staging a protest demanding a minimum 15% salary increase. The protest is held under the slogan “Media Work Has Value.” The three public media—BTA, BNR, and BNT—are collectively requesting BGN 14 million in additional funding from the state budget for wages: BGN 3 million for BTA, BGN 5 million for BNR, and BGN 6 million for BNT.