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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Think Freedom: Freedom is an Action
After the successful premiere in Sofia, the documentary portrait of Denitsa Lyubenova is storming the international film festivals. Starting on a national basis at the Sofia Pride Film Fest in Bulgaria, the documentary makes its way over the neighboring country North Macedonia all the way to Berlin, Germany and London, the UK. "Think Freedom: Freedom is an Action' tells the story of the human rights lawyer and activist Denitsa Lyubenova of the LGBTI organization Deystvie.
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Secret Charm - China´s Hidden Influence in Southeast Europe
This policy paper highlights a case study, which provides useful lessons learned as to Beijing's broader geopolitical and geo-economic objectives as well as the ambition to increase its economic leverage and political clout. The paper features case studies on China’s influence in eight countries in Southeast Europe, conducted by local experts. The authors assess China’s investments, its image and the appeal of its governance model in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia.
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Strategic Rethinking: New NATO Strategic Concept and EU Strategic Compass
The main goal of the conference is to discuss the complexity of current risks and threats to the regional and global security, predominantly those arising from the Russian aggression against sovereign Ukraine. Keeping in mind the potential global dimensions of this war, the conference will also discuss possible responses to the Russian hybrid warfare against the democratic world, including weaponization of the energy supplies, propaganda, fake news, cyber-attacks and others. At the same time, it will take into consideration all other threats such as terrorism, migration, natural disasters, climate change and many others.
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Think Freedom: Freedom is an Action
The Premiere of the short documentary ‘Think Freedom: Freedom is an Action’ gathered more than 100 people on Friday, 17 June, in the Steps in Sofia, Bulgaria. The short documentary tells the story of Denitsa Lyubenova, a human rights lawyer and LGBTI activist. The film shows the process behind and the emotional journey of one of the most prominent legal battles. The screening of the film was followed by a discussion .
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"Freedom must be better armed than tyranny"
Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia, has become one of Europe's leading voices against Russia's war in Ukraine. She has been leading in getting the EU to take tougher action against Russia. She linked her 16th Berlin Freedom Speech with an appeal to formulate an even stronger European response to Putin's war.
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Bulgaria between the fight against corruption and the support for Ukraine
Russia's war in Ukraine will reorder the priorities of the Bulgarian government, although with a delay compared to other NATO and EU countries. Without a significant improvement in the state of internal security, with a focus on defense and intelligence, Bulgaria will suffer heavy losses from the war, and efforts at judicial reform and innovation will suffer.
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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.
Social Media
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🔝 We are proud that our short documentary ‘Think Freedom: Freedom is an Action’, a film by Anna Stoeva from Tanuki Films, has been featured in several international film festivals: http://bit.ly/3XFtHIv 🇩🇪 Berlin Short Film Festival, 25 – 31 January, Online. Buy tickets http://bit.ly/3H7vwGR 🇲🇰 SEE Online Film Festival – Cinesquare, 1 – 28 February, Online facebook event: https://bit.ly/3XGTWhp the event is organized by the production company Cinesquare 🇬🇧 Leeds Queer Film Festival, 23 - 26 March, Yorkshire, England LQ Filmfest webpage: https://bit.ly/3XHaBBx 🇬🇧 Rainbow Umbrella Film Festival, 5 – 8 January, London, England Rainbow Umbrella webpage: http://bit.ly/3kPE3Xm 🇧🇬 Sofia Pride Film Festival, 17 June 2022, Sofia, Bulgaria Sofia Pride Film Fest webpage: https://bit.ly/3kMzgWF 🔝 Stay tuned for further updates of our festival Line-up and see you there! 🏳️🌈 The short documentary tells the story of Denitsa Lyubenova, a human rights lawyer and LGBTI activist from @lgbtdeystvie The film shows the process behind and the emotional journey of one of the most prominent legal battles. The case for the parentage of baby SARA from her two mothers marks a historic victory and milestone for Denitsa and the LGBT organization Deystvie. The decision sets a precedent for authorities to recognize the rights of the children with same-sex parents and for the rights of LGBTI people to a family and private life. 🎞️The film is part of the #ThinkFreedom series of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, featuring documentary portraits of inspiring and free-minded people from East Europe. 👏 Our gratitude goes to everybody, who contributed to the film, and to the creative team: 🎬 Directed by: Anna Stoeva 🎬 Director of Photography: Ivan Nikolov 🎬 Produced by: tanuki films, David Djambazov Anna Stoeva #fnfesee
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🎞️ 🇩🇪 Berlin Short Film Festival will screen this week our short documentary ‘Think Freedom: Freedom is an Action’, a film by Anna Stoeva from Tanuki Films. We are proud and grateful. 📽️ Check out the exciting program of Berlin Short Film Festival from 26-31 January, hurry up to buy your ticket to watch online a variety of art masterpieces 👉 http://www.berlinshort.com/festival-2023/ 🏳️🌈 The short documentary tells the story of Denitsa Lyubenova, a human rights lawyer and LGBTI activist from LGBTI organization Deystvie . The film shows the process behind and the emotional journey of one of the most prominent legal battles. The case for the parentage of baby SARA from her two mothers marks a historic victory and milestone for Denitsa and the LGBT organization Deystvie. The decision sets a precedent for authorities to recognize the rights of the children with same-sex parents and for the rights of LGBTI people to a family and private life. 🎞️The film is part of the #ThinkFreedom series of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, featuring documentary portraits of inspiring and free-minded people from East Europe. 👏 Our gratitude goes to everybody, who contributed to the film, and to the creative team: 🎬 Directed by: Anna Stoeva 🎬 Director of Photography: Ivan Nikolov 🎬 Produced by: tanuki films, David Djambazov Anna Stoeva #fnfesee
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🇧🇬 🇩🇪 За нас беше удоволствие да се срещнем с екипа на Посолство на Федерална република Германия Deutsche Botschaft Sofia , за да ги запознаем по-добре с работата им в гражданско и политическо образование и в застъпничество за свободата, върховенство на закона, правата на човека, медийна свобода, иновации и дигитализация, и др. 💡 Имахме възможност да обсъдим приоритетите на посолоството, ситуацията в България, отношенията с Германия и общи интереси. 👏 Благодарим на Кристина Рюл и Димитър Станишев за визитата!
