Censorship: Bulgaria's Finance Minister with Absurd Requirements for Journalists

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued absurd requirements for which journalists can cover the activities of Asen Vassilev's department.

By their nature, they represent nothing more than a brutal form of censorship.

According to an official notification to the media, the MoF will now allow only "accredited journalists" to its events. The department imagines these to be reporters "who are engaged in the creation of news and overview commentary-analytical shows and columns with financial and economic topics and regularly provide news and information about the overall activity of the Ministry of Finance and secondary allocators of budget funds to the department ".

The requirements in question are more than subjective and subject to divergent interpretations. It is interesting how the Ministry of Finance will assess the degree of engagement with the financial issues of each individual journalist, and it is even more interesting what is meant by "regularly" to provide news and information about the activities of the Ministry of Finance - once a week, once a month and once yearly is still regular!

Asen Vassilev's media PR gurus ask journalists to provide documents by July 15:

• a written application on the letterhead of the media, signed by the director representing the media and stamped with the seal of the media. The application should contain data about the company, headquarters and management address, unique identification code, correspondence address, telephone, e-mail address;
• the letter should state the three names of the journalist; the position he/she holds in the media; assurance and evidence that the journalist works in the field of finance and economics, as well as that the media has a financial and/or economic column; contact telephone numbers, e-mail address, correspondence address; journalist card number.

In addition, the MoF states that television, print and electronic media can accredit up to two teams, which include a reporter and a cameraman/photojournalist and for television stations - also technical persons.

For the television, print and electronic media, one-time accreditation is allowed, in the absence of the permanently accredited teams, after submitting an application in advance to the email address of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications press-office@minfin.bg, containing the three names and journalist card number of a reporter, photojournalist, operator, technical person, the department also writes.

From there, they specify that journalists without accreditation will not be admitted to the events organized by the Ministry of Finance.

Journalists who are not accredited to the Ministry of Finance and who wish to ask questions to the Minister of Finance can do so during his visits to the National Assembly, the ministry of Asen Vassilev also states.

There is no practice for only accredited journalists to cover events of a state department in Bulgaria. Behind such a requirement looms an attempt at censorship - that reporters who ask uncomfortable questions do not have access to and cannot ask questions of the Harvard minister.

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