site.btaSofia Region Administrative Court Suspends New Procedure for Election of BNT Director General, Contrary to Its Previous Rulings

On 30 September, the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) received an order from Panel I of the Sofia Region Administrative Court, by which the court suspended the new procedure for the election of new Director General of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), launched on July 15, 2025, CEM reported on Wednesday.

CEM said that the court decided to suspend the procedure following a complaint by Sasho Yovkov, despite the fact that the decision to terminate the previous procedure had already entered into force with respect to him, and that he himself had submitted documents to participate in the new procedure.

According to the Council, there is a contradiction in the interpretation and application of the law by the same judicial panel regarding one and the same act of CEM – Decision No. RD-05-70 of 15 July 2025.

With divergent reasoning, the court once found that acting BNT Director General Emil Koshlukov lacked legal standing and dismissed his appeal against the same act, while in its order of September 30 it held that Sasho Yovkov did in fact have such standing.

CEM calls for the prompt and effective resolution of these legal disputes and for an immediate ruling, in order to protect the public interest and ensure the continuity of the governance mandate of the public broadcaster.

In its statement, CEM also noted indications of a coordinated attack aimed at obstructing the exercise of its statutory powers to elect a new Director General, which directly contradicts the principle of the rule of law and the Council’s legally assigned functions.

The competition for BNT's top post has been ongoing since 2022 when Koshlukov's previous term in office ended. As no candidate has received the necessary votes since then, Koshlukov remained in office as acting Director General. A number of court appeals surrounds the election process.