It is unacceptable for government officials to threaten journalists.

The team of the Expert Club for Economics and Politics categorically condemns the threats that MP Anton Todorov and Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov dared to make to journalist Viktor Nikolaev, host of the morning block on Nova Television.

Such treatment of journalists by politicians is absolutely unacceptable and has no place in a developed, free and democratic country. This behavior betrays a dangerous and frankly frightening attitude of the authorities towards the media and Bulgarian society as a whole.

Freedom of speech is fundamental

Politicians cannot afford to respond to criticism with threats and intimidation – they are obliged, in their role as representatives and executors of the will of the citizens, to satisfactorily address any criticism directed at them. Such attempts to instill fear in the journalistic class in Bulgaria are extremely dangerous – political pressure on the media is a practice of the most dark-minded authoritarian and totalitarian regimes in the world. Regimes that we categorically do not want to emulate if we want to live in a free and prosperous country.

Freedom of speech is the foundation of any free and developed society. But freedom of speech means nothing if it does not allow for free criticism of the government. Freedom of speech means nothing if the government can, through threats or by depriving critical voices of a platform and a professional field, exert pressure on its critics.

It is precisely because of this disgusting attitude that the representatives of the state power allow themselves that Bulgaria is at the bottom of all rankings for journalistic freedom. We are in 109th place out of 180 in the world ranking for press freedom, according to the global journalistic organization "Reporters Without Borders". This puts our country in last place in the EU in terms of media freedom. In every ranking according to the level of civil liberties in the world, Bulgaria lags behind precisely because of the excessive political pressure that is exerted on journalists in the country and the influence that certain politicians and parties have on the media environment.

Such behavior cannot go unpunished.

It is high time this changed. We should not allow politicians, who are supposed to represent our will and interests, to allow themselves such an attitude towards critical journalists, whose main role in a free society is to be a corrector and critic of the authorities. We call on journalists and the media in Bulgaria not to bend under these attempts to exert pressure and to continue to do their work conscientiously and critically. Only in this way can we build an informed and critical civil society that is ready and able to defend its rights and freedoms. As an independent media outlet, EKIP is fully committed to this cause.

This incident must not go unpunished. We must show the authorities that we Bulgarian citizens do NOT tolerate such treatment by members of parliament towards journalists and consider it absolutely unacceptable.

Therefore, the EKIP calls for the immediate resignation of Anton Todorov as a Member of Parliament and Valeri Simeonov as Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Demographic Policy.

Only through the resignations of the above-mentioned, the government will demonstrate that it values freedom of speech and respects their right to criticize their representatives. Thus, the government will demonstrate that it is sincerely committed to protecting the rights and freedoms of the citizens of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Image source: Nova.bg

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