The caretaker government in Bulgaria attacks public service television in an attempt to silence the opposition

The public service television in Bulgaria – BNT (Bulgarian National Television) is experiencing an unprecedented institutional attack. The government, represented by the Minister of Culture Velislav Minekov, has openly insisted on the resignation of BNT Director General Emil Koshlukov on account of disapproval of the editorial policy of the media and threat to the national security of the country. The leaders of political party „Democratic Bulgaria“, as well as of „There is Such a People“, which is close to the President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, have also criticized the media chief.

In his response to the Bulgarian Minister of Culture, Emil Koshlukov reminded him that according to the Radio and Television Act, the Minister has no right to interfere in the editorial policy of the television. He added that such repression happens only in North Korea and for the first time in the history of BNT, the executive allows itself so impudently and unceremoniously to daunt journalists.

However, for the fourth day in a row, Minister Minekov has not stopped attacking. He is the son of Velichko Minekov, who is the sculptor closest to the communist dictator Todor Zhivkov and who played a strong role in the Communist Party’s nomenclature before the fall of the Iron Curtain. Velislav Minekov continues the family tradition of using art as a bridge to power. His works are part of the collection of the oligarch Vassil Bojkov, who was sanctioned by the United States under the Global Magnitsky Act. Bojkov publicly acknowledged that he had paid for and managed the protests in Bulgaria last summer, and Minekov was their organisational leader. This leads to reasoned assumptions that Minekov helped Bojkov to overthrow the government of Boyko Borissov, in return of making him a minister in the caretaker government of President Radev.

Meanwhile, BNT continues to be attacked by other organizations, which stood behind the protests in the summer of 2020. Another organization that asked for Emil Koshlukov’s resignation is the BOEC civil movement. They were made public due their close contacts with another oligarch who fled abroad from Bulgarian justice – Tsvetan Vassilev. What all attacks have in common is not only the time, but also the goal, namely to silence the voice of the opposition from GERB.

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