Bulgaria Collapses to 68th Place in World Press Freedom Index 2009

Bulgaria has continued its free fall in the World Press Freedom Index 2009 released Tuesday by Reporters without Borders.

Bulgaria’s press freedom has continued to worsen as it occupies 68th place in the 2009 ranking.

After being 48th in 2005, Bulgaria had its best ranking in 2006 when it was 35th. Ever since its press freedom has declined tremendously - 51st in 2007, 59th in 2008, and 68th in 2009.

Countries such as Togo, Tanzania, Malawi, Liberia, Botswana, Lebanon, and Haiti are ranked before Bulgaria. Bulgaria’s neighbors Romania and Serbia are ranked 50th and 62nd respectively.

For the third consecutive year the last three spots in the Press Freedom Index are occupied by Turkmenistan, North Korea, and Eritrea (173rd, 174th, 175th). Iran is 172nd. The first three spots in the 2009 index belong to Denmark, Finland, and Ireland.

Reporters without Borders has pointed out the decline of press freedom in Europe including in established democracies such as France and Italy.

The USA has climbed up 20 positions to reach 20th place largely as a result of the election of Barack Obama, who is a lot less war-like towards the media than his predecessor was.

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