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Southeast Europe
October 13, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 17
colleague – she had taken a certain direction, and as far as I can see, her chair is missing now”.
When Ivanov’s long-time co-host Anna Tsolova unexpectedly resigned from “Hello, Bulgaria”, there was speculation that she had been forced to quit after her reporting on the latest attempts at judicial reform in the country.
Simeonov appeared after Todoroiv, and also tried to put pressure on the journalist, saying he could easily “develop a Viktorgate”.
Meanwhile, MP Jordan Tsonev, an MP from the opposition Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), announced that will demand the resigna- tion of Simeonov as he is becoming "a symbol of the hate speech".
“What language has the Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov? Isn’t he one of the pioneers of this language,” Dnevnik quoted Tsonev as saying during the parliament’s debate on Todorov’s resignation.
Several opposition parties that are not represent- ed in the parliament also requested Simeonov’s resignation earlier this week. Meanwhile, the deputy prime minister claims he is the victim of an organised attack.
The two politicians have angered journalists in the country, as these were the most significant and blatant attempts by politicians to put pressure on journalists in the country in recent years.
Dozens of Bulgarian journalists gathered on October 11 in front of the government’s building to protest against politicians’ attempts to silence them. The protest took place while MPs were de- bating Todorov’s resignation.
“Media silence serves those behind the curtains”, “WHO emptied the chair?”, “Where is Annie?” were some of the slogans at the protest, put on empty chairs, referring to Todorov’s words regard- ing Ivanov’s co-host.
Media freedom in Bulgaria has been assessed as very poor by many institutions, as well as highly dependent on the interests of businessmen and politicians. In April, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published its latest World Press Freedom Index. While Bulgaria moved up on the ranking, it remained the lowest ranked
EU country at 109th position. This was attributed by RSF to “an environment dominated by corruption and collusion between media, politicians, and oligarchs”.