Sofia
The Sofia office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom is responsible for the activities of the Foundation in Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Our mission is to facilitate the promotion of the principles of liberal democracy, the rule of law, political pluralism, and free markets, in a collaborative partnership with local and international partners.
Our standard instruments include political education, policy support, and political dialogue, realised through regular events and publications.
News
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Premiere of the Black Book of Government Waste 2020
The Black Book 2020 has been now officially launched through a top-notch, immersive virtual show, with great reach on social media. Watch it now! Visit the new website chernakniga.bg to download 2020 edition, discover the continuation of stories published earlier, find out more about the team of investigative journalists and even submit a signal for misuse of taxpayers' money. The 2020 edition of the Black Book of Government Waste in Bulgaria features 15 cases of inefficient spending of taxpayers’ money.
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Polarization is a lethal threat to democracy
Find the interview with Martin Kothé for for the Premiere of Black Book of Government Waste 2020 for the Bulgarian daily newspaper, Dnevnik. Again, we at FNF were able to compile 15 stories of inefficient or questionable spending of Bulgarian citizens’ money, including indications of corruption or conflicts of interest. By pointing out these cases, we invite Bulgarians to demand transparency and accountability from the authorities. We believe Bulgarians have a right to know how their money is spent, and the people’s money should create welfare.
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Black Book’s Media Coverage in bTV Show '120 Minutes'
Watch the TV interview of Martin Kothé about the premiere of the Black Book of Government Waste 2020 for the highly respectable political talkshow “120 Minutes” with the journalist, Svetoslav Ivanov in the biggest private TV channel, bTV. FNF has published so far 6 editions of the Black Book in Bulgaria. We remain committed to continuing this investigative project.
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Next Level Participation: Citizen-driven e-Democracy Tools
In a time where trust in traditional ‘political actors’ is in decline; the digitalisation of democratic participation provides new opportunities for citizen engagement with politics. In this effort, citizens and citizen groups all over Europe have developed digital tools to enhance political participation through deliberation, transparency, and wider participation.
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The Voice of Economics
Svetla Kostadinova has been the executive director of one of the most influential economic think tanks in Bulgaria for 13 years. Svetla has the exceptional quality of a calm, serious demeanour, which makes you respect her even before she impresses you with her mind. She is the executive director of the Institute for Market Economics (IME), an important, influential economic think tank in Bulgaria for nearly 30 years.She made a considerable impact on the country’s policy discourse over the years.
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When activism meets law
Denitsa Lyubenova is a human rights lawyer and LGBTI activist who helps people live normal lives and enjoy equal rights in Bulgaria.
She is not a stereotypical lawyer — her mission for many years is to achieve justice and equal human rights for people from different communities. Denitsa helped establish the LGBTI organisation Deystvie (meaning “action”) and now, as its legal expert, helps it change the lives and protect the rights of all groups in society. She has helped children receive citizenship, made marriages legally acknowledged, and facilitated access to medicine for HIV patients. -
Under the Mask of Disinformation
The issue of wearing protective masks has been on the agenda since the beginning of the pandemic: Should we cover our face or not? Under what circumstances? What type of mask should we use? Over the past few months, the focus of the debate has changed several times while also opening the door to conspiracy theories and misinformation.
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Expressing Civil And Political Liberties in Times of Crisis
The lessons learnt from the first wave of the pandemic could provide a key as to how to adapt to the second wave. The manifold clashes of governments with their obligations to preserve individual rights and the critical public response, will surely lead to a more reasoned and citizen-oriented addressing of the issue in the future.
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25 Years Promoting Freedom in Bulgaria
2015 marked the 25th anniversary of FNF in Bulgaria. A quarter century, the Foundation has been supporting the establishment of liberal democracy in close collaboration with a large number of partner institutions and liberal friends.
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Re-Designing Public Services for the 21st Century – e-Governance
Long queues, limited working hours, crippling bureaucracy, lost or damaged papers and ultimately remaining unheard when reaching out to the public administration. A story, most can relate to.
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eDemocracy and eParticipation: The precious first steps and the way forward
Citizens question top-down approaches of governance and demand more inclusion in the processes of modern democracies. New tools open the door for unprecedented interaction with and unprecedented scrutiny of institutions and governments.
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Liberal Ideas
Liberalism, as the name implies, is the fundamental belief in a political ideal where individuals are free to pursue their own goals in their own ways provided they do not infringe on the equal liberty of others. But what are the basic principles of liberalism and liberal democracy exactly?
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Reshape Bulgaria, Reshape Europe!
Students’ responses to questions regarding Bulgaria's future were presented at the international conference “Reshape Bulgaria, Reshape Europe“ on 12 October 2017.
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Different People, Same Rights. The rights of same-sex couples in Bulgaria
Over the past years, LGBTI equality laws and policies have slowly but steadily advanced all across Europe. When it comes to the LGBTI domain in Bulgaria, however, the picture is more than alarming.
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Behind Closed Curtains: Disinformation on messenger services
Disinformation is not a phenomenon of the digital era. It has always been used to damage political opponents and destabilise societies. However, the popular use of social media and messenger services nowadays have turned the creation and the massive peer-to-peer spread of content in an easy game.
Social Media
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On focus today: Juliana Nikolova - Vice-President of the Либерално Демократска Партија ЛДП, encouraging broader female participation in politics. Stay tuned for our video series "Women in Politics" with leading female politicians from #Northmacedoinia. Together with Форум на жени-Либерално демократска партија
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Have you missed the conference on citizen participation through digital tools this morning? Check it out below! Special gratitude to Ms. Dubravka Suica, Vice-President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography for outlining the role of technologies for public deliberation and democracy. The panel discussion tackled those topics in further detail. Organised by the European Liberal Forum, with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Projekt: Polska, and the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS). #ELFevent #FNF
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