The International Press Institute (IPI) and the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC) launch the second in a series of Media Capture Monitoring Reports for 2025, examining the state of play in Bulgaria.

The report reviews developments regarding media capture in the country in 2025 and examines Bulgaria’s compliance with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) since the EU Commission’s regulation entered into full force in August.

It concludes that Bulgaria has made no tangible progress since EMFA came into force. Although a cross-ministerial and institutional working group was previously established and made some initial progress, its suspension stalled much needed reforms. While the Ministry of Culture has said a new working group has been formed to implement EMFA reforms to the Radio and Television Act, no information has been provided about plans for wider implementation of any other Articles of EMFA and the timeline for additional reforms remains unclear.

The report provides detailed recommendations on a variety of measures and policies necessary to address media capture in Bulgaria and create a free, pluralistic and democratic media ecosystem, in line with EMFA provisions.