The change has occurred after successful litigation supported by Access to Information Programme.   

The 9th Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony in Bulgaria was held on 28 September in the Bulgarian News Agency, Sofia. Access to Information Programme opened the event with the song “Breathe.”The event was broadcast live on Internet. More than hundred people attended the ceremony.  Pictures are available at AIP web site: http://www.aip-bg.org/about/gallery/108773/.

On 19 April 2011, the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Art.10 of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case of Bulgarian journalists Kasabova against Bulgaria.

The book Buying/ Selling the Danube Coast (10 Years APIA, 60 stories by journalists) was presented on November 26, 2010 at 19.00 in the Helikon Bookstore, 4 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd, Sofia.

On September 28, 2010 AIP held the Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony  for the eighth successive year. You can watch seven video clips (In Bulgarian) covering the 2010 Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony in Bulgaria.

Access to Information Programme held the eighth Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony in Bulgaria on September 28, 2010 in Sofia

On 4-6 October 2010, AIP held the last three training workshops with journalists from local media in the towns of Haskovo, Kardjali, and Smolyan.

You can find news and comments on hot access to information topics. Still only in Bulgarian.

To mark ten years of the adoption of the Bulgarian Access to Public Information Act (APIA), Access to Information Programme organized a conference on July 26, 2010. The conference was held under the auspices of the Chairperson of the Bulgarian National Assembly Ms. Tsetska Tsacheva. The purpose of the conference was to discuss possibilities of Bulgaria’s accession to the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents on the base of ten years experience of the Access to Public Information Act implementation. Bulgarian APIA is in act since July 7, 2000.

Access to Information Programme presented its annual report at a presconference on April 29, 2010

The project is supported by a grant for 36-month period of the America for Bulgaria Foundation.

On April 8, 2010, in the New Conference Hall of the Sofia University Kliment Ohridski, on its third anniversary, the Committee for Disclosing the Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian citizens to the State Security and the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian National Army gave awards to two nongovernmental organizations and two journalists. Access to Information Programme (AIP) was recognized with a plaque for contribution to the opening of the archives of the communist secret services and a diploma for strengthening the reputation of the Committee.

Assessment of the Internet sites of the institutions from the point of view of the Access to Public Information Act; and
Representative public opinion poll on public attitudes regarding the right of access to information.

In order to enhance the execution of the right of access to informationin Bulgaria in line with 2008 amendments to the Access to PublicInformation Act and push for the ratification of the Council of EuropeConvention on Access to Official Documents, Access to InformationProgramme (AIP) initiated Public Awareness Campaign on New Standards inthe Access to Information Area. The campaign is supported by a grantfrom Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA FinancialMechanism.

During 2009 a large number of lawsuits for access to information werebrought with the AIP legal support. As in previous years some courtbattles have been successful, others have been lost. Some, such as thestory related to the contract between the Bulgarian administration andMicrosoft have been again postponed. The rich case law allows us todraw some conclusions and trends in the court practice. 

Despite the broad public and media campaign against certain proposed amendmentsto the Electronic Communications Act, they passed first reading in theparliament on December 22, 2009. Despite the public consultationinitiated by the Ministry of Interior, the amendments intend tointroduce direct access of the MoI to citizens’ telecommunication data.AIP has led been leading the campaign against uncontrolled access to the telecommunication data for a second successive year.

A thirty-minute documentary Right to Know Day was produced by a team of ProMedia - Broadcasting Training Center Foundation within the framework of the project Local Media and Freedom of Information in Bulgaria implemented by The Management&Media Academy/Free Voice and AIP with the financial support of the MATRA Programme of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The movie is in Bulgarian but is accessible with subtitles in English as well.

Thetext of the handbook is in line with the last amendments to theBulgarian Access to Public Information Act from December 2008. Thehandbook is available online in Bulgarian: http://www.aip-bg.org/pdf/handbook2009.pdf.

Documentary Media and Access to Information - Five Investigative Reporter Stories was produced by a team of ProMedia - Broadcasting Training Center Foundation within the framework of the project Local Media and Freedom of Information in Bulgaria implemented by The Management&Media Academy/Free Voice and AIP with the financial support of the MATRA Programme of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The movie is accessible with subtitles in English and in Russian.