On March 28, 2013 Access to Information Programme presented its annual report Access to Information in Bulgaria 2012 at a presconference in the Bulgarian News Agency. The thirteen report contains recommendations for facilitating the access to information and increasing the transparency and accountability of the public administration; analysis of the effective access to information legislation; results from the 2013 AIP audit on the active disclosure of public information online by the executive bodies; analyses of the access to information cases referred to AIP for legal help; an overview of the most interesting developments in the FOI litigation in 2012.

On February 27, 2013 Access to Information Programme (AIP) presented the results from its audit on institutional web sites and the 2013 Active Transparency Rating at a press conference held at the Bulgarian News Agency. The aim of the audit, which AIP performs since 2006, is to evaluate how the executive bodies fulfill their obligations for proactive publication of information online under the Access to Public Information Act and other legal regulations and to assess their readiness to respond to electronic requests. On the base of the indicators, AIP launched an updated 2013 Active Transparency Rating.



On February 15, 2013 in Sofia, Access to Information Programme (AIP) held the annual meeting with the journalists of its country-wide coordinators' network. AIP Executive Director Gergana Jouleva presented key achievements from AIP advocacy activities in 2012, summarized in AIP organizational annual report (in Bulgarian). The 2013 goals and challenges before AIP and the coordinators' network were outlined. 

Access to Information Programme (AIP) and Internet Society Bulgaria held the Big Brother Anti-awards ceremony in Bulgaria on January 28, 2013, 12.00, at the National Presscenter of the Bulgarian News Agency. The anti-awards are given to government institutions, private companies, or individuals, who have done the most to invade personal privacy.



On October 31, 2012, Access to Information Programme (AIP) presented its book Litigation Under Access to Information Legislation. The book is part of the continuous analyses which AIP has been making on the Access to Public Information Act litigation in Bulgaria and is the fifth from the series: http://www.aip-bg.org/en/publications/books/. Authors are the attorneys-at-law from AIP legal team Alexander Kashumov, head of the team, and Kiril Terziyski. The foreword is by Gergana Jouleva, AIP Executive Director.

The 10^th Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony in Bulgaria was held on 28 September at the Bulgarian News Agency, Sofia. Access to Information Programme opened the event with the song “Breathe,” dedicated to the right to know. Promotional materials, among which the Right to Know Day Magnet, were distributed to the participants in the ceremony. More than 90 attended. The ceremony was broadcast live on Internet. Pictures can be found at AIP web site: http://www.aip-bg.org/about/gallery/. The Right to Know Day Awards Committee selected the winners in the six categories out of 42 nominations 

Access to Information Programme (AIP) has just closed the nomination process for the 2012 Right to Know Day Awards. On 28 September 2012 at 12.00 a.m. (EET) at the Press Club of the Bulgarian News Agency (49 Tsarigradsko shose Blvd, Sofia), Access to Information Programme will hold the 10th Annual Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony in Bulgaria. 

Access to Information Programme organized and held a study visit in Sofia to present Bulgaria’s twelve years of Access to Public Information Act implementation experience and good practices to officials from Ukrainian government institutions and NGO representatives during the week 16-20 July 2012. The visit was supported by the Council of Europe and was part of a Joint Programme between the Council of Europe and the European Union.  Within the three-day Study Visit, the Ukrainian group visited the National Assembly of Republic of Bulgaria; the Council of Ministries; the State Commission on Information Security; the Committee for disclosing the documents of the Former State Security; and met representatives of the Commission of Personal Data Protection.



On July 20, 2012 in Radio Shumen at the town of Shumen, AIP held a training with journalists from Shumen, Razgrad, Dobrich, Varna and Silistra on how to use public registers and on public bodies obligations for active publication of information. The trainings was the last in a series of 7 held within the framework of the project Civil Audit of Active Transparency of Government (CAATOG) supported by a grant from the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe.

Access to Information Programme has summarized the speeches and the outcomes of the discussions during the conference Advocacy for Access to Information – Achievements and Challenges. During the two days conference held by Access to Information Programme on 15-16 June 2012 in Sofia, Bulgaria,  leading organizations in the access to information area from 12 countries (Armenia, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Georgia, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Spain, UK) shared achievements and discussed the challenges for the freedom of information advocates.





On May 18, 2012 in the town of Kardzhali, AIP held a training with journalists on how to use public registers and on public bodies obligations for active publication of information. Local media journalists from the towns of Kardzhali, Smolyan, and Haskovo took part. The training was the fourth out of 7 planned in the country. The first was held in in Kyustendil on March 16, 2012, the second - in Vratsa on March 30, and the third in Plovdiv - on April 20. The next will be held in the towns of Veliko Tarnovo (June 29), Sliven (July 13) and Shumen (July 20).



On April 20, 2012 in the town of Plovdiv, AIP held a training with journalists on how to use public registers and on public bodies obligations for active publication of information. Local media journalists from the towns of Stara Zagora and Pazardzhik also took part. The training was the third out of 7 planned in the country. The first was held in in Kyustendil on March 16, 2012, the second - in Vratsa on March 30. The next will be held in the towns of Kardzhali (May 18), Veliko Tarnovo (June 29), Sliven (July 13) and Shumen (July 20). 

On April 4, 2012, at a press conference at the Bulgarian News Agency, Access to Information Programme presented the 2012 Active Transparency Rating and the Public Registers Portal in Bulgaria.

The two surveys are made within the implementation of the project Civil Audit of Active Transparency of Government, supported by a grant from the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe.

On March 30, 2012 in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry - town of Vratsa, AIP held a training with journalists on how to use public registers and on public bodies obligations for active publication of information. Local media journalists from Vidin, Pleven, and Montana also took part. The training was the second out of 7 planned in the country. The first was held in in Kyustendil on March 16, 2012. The next will be held in the towns of Plovdiv (April 20), Kardzhali (May 18), Veliko Tarnovo (June 29), Sliven (July 13) and Shumen (July 20). The trainings are held within the framework of the project Civil Audit of Active Transparency of Government (CAATOG) supported by a grant from the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe.

On March 16, 2012 in Hotel Strimon Spa, the town of Kyustendil, AIP held a training with journalists on how to use public registers and on public bodies obligations for active publication. Local media journalists from Kyustendil, Pernik and Blagoevrgad took part. The training was the first out of 7 planned in the country - the next will be held in the towns of Vratsa (March 30), Plovdiv (April 20), Kardzhali (May 18), Veliko Tarnovo (June 29), Sliven (July 13) and Shumen (July 20).The trainings are held within the framework of the project Civil Audit of Active Transparency of Government (CAATOG) supported by a grant from the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe.

The 9^th 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/. The Right to Know Day Awards Committee selected the winners in the six categories out of 59 nominations received through the special web site www.RightToKnowDay.net.



The conference was organized and held by AIP in the frame of the project Pushing for Accountability of Government through ATI Legal Assistance and Litigation, financed by the Open Society Institute, Human Rights and Governance Grants Program, Budapest. Among the 100 participants were lawyers, judges from administrative courts, representatives of NGOs, media, activists, citizens who have submitted ATI requests and have appealed refusals in the court. Pictures from the conference can be viewed here.

Access to Information Programme (AIP) and Internet Society Bulgaria held the Big Brother Anti-awards ceremony in Bulgaria on February 16, 2011, 11.00, at the National Presscenter of the Bulgarian News Agency. The awards are given to government institutions, private companies, or individuals, who have done the most to invade personal privacy. Among the nominations were: the Parliamentary Standing Subcommittee for oversight and monitoring of application of special intelligence means,  the Minister of Internal Affairs, Alcatel-Lucent Company, Alpha Bank – Bulgaria,  a hospital in the town of Smolian, and even the Electronic Communications Act, effective as of May 10, 2010. 

The meeting was held on November 26, 2010 in Dessislava Hall in Grand Hotel Bulgaria, Sofia. The purpose of the meeting was to make a review of the results achieved within the three-years project Local Media and Freedom of Information in Bulgaria, financed through the MATRA program of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by AIP in cooperation with the The Management & Media Academy/Free Voice. Remarks and conclusions were shared by the Dutch FOI expert Roger Vleugels who took part in the 26 training seminars held in the regional cities in the Country. Mr. Martijn Elgersma, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Sofia. 

In 4-6 October 2010, AIP held the last three training workshops with journalists from local media in the towns of Haskovo, Kardjali, and Smolyan. Kiril Terziiski, a lawyer at the AIP legal team presented cases of journalistic investigations completed with the help of the Access to Public Information Act and following litigation proceedings in cases of denials. Tactics for successful use of the law by journalists were also presented. The Dutch FOI expert, Mr. Roger Vleugels, presented tactics and cases of journalists from Holland. The movie Media and Access to Information - Five Investigative Reporter Stories was shown at all workshops.

The Eight Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony was held on 28 September in the Bulgarian News Agency, Sofia. Posters were disseminated in the countryside through AIP's coordinators network. Press releases were sent to national and regional media. The event was broadcast live on Internet. More than 60 media – national and local – covered the event. More than hundred people attended the ceremony.

Pictures are available at AIP facebook page. You can watch video clips (in Bulgarian) from the 2010 Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony held by Access to Information Programme.



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. 

In 12-14 April 2010, AIP held three more training workshops with journalists from local media in the towns of Pazardjik, Plovdiv and Stara Zagora. 

On March 16, 2010, at a press conference at the Bulgarian News Agency, AIP and Market LINKS presented the results from two surveys:

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 information in Bulgaria in line with 2008 amendments to the Access to Public Information Act and push for the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, Access to Information Programme (AIP) initiated Public Awareness Campaign on New Standards in the Access to Information Area. The campaign is supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism. 

The meeting with the journalists from the coordinators’ network was held on February 5, 2010. The meeting was organized within the project Local Media and Freedom of Information in Bulgaria, financed through the MATRA program of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ms. Gergana Jouleva, AIP executive director, made and overview of the key achievements of AIP during the past 2009. Results are presented in the annual report of the organization. The goals and tasks of the coordinators’ network for 2010 were outlined. AIP gave the Coordinator of the Year Award for a third successive year.


For the seventh successive year Access to Information Programme (AIP) held the annual Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony in Bulgaria. More than hundred people attended the 2009 Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony organized and held by Access to Information Programme (AIP)on 28 September in the Bulgarian News Agency, Sofia. The ceremony was broadcast live on Internet. More than 50 media – national and local – covered the event. More information about the 2009 Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony on the special web site: www.RightToKnowDat.net.



On September 28, 2008 AIP held the sixth annual Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony in BulgariaMore than 100 people attended. Special guests were Mr. Nikolay Vasilev, Minister of State Administration and Administrative Reform, Ms. Vera Illes, Programme Manager at The Management & Media Academy/Free Voice. Awards were given in seven categories - five positive and two negative. 

Access to Information Programme held a National Round Table (NRT) on March 14, 2008, Sofia.
Problems faced by nongovernmental organizations when they exercise their right of access to information were discussed and strategies for advocacy work in the area were be outlined at the forum.
Participants at the National Round Table discussed and adopted a Memorandum with specific recommendations for the improvement of the access to information situation in Bulgaria.

On February 8, 2008, in Sofia, AIP held the annual meeting with the journalists from the coordinators’ network.
An overview of key achievements of AIP during the past 2007 were made and the project Local Media and Freedom of Information in Bulgaria, financed through the MATRA program of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was presented to AIP coordinators, all of them journalists in the 26 regional town in the country.

On January 28, 2008, Access to Information Programme and Internet Society Bulgaria presented the the Big Brother Awards at a special ceremony held in the Center of Culture and Debate The Red House. The jury recognized two Bulgarian institutions for their extensive violation of the right to privacy and the protection of personal data: the Ministry of Interior and the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria.

On 27nd April 2007 in Veliko Turnovo Access to Information Program held a one-day discussion on active provision of information, particularly publication of information on institutional web sites, with local and regional government officials from the Regions of Veliko Tarnovo, Pleven, Gabrovo and Lovech within the project Increasing Government Transparency and Accountability through Electronic Access to Information, financed by the UNDP Democratic Governance Trust Fund (DGTF).



On 26nd April 2007 in Veliko Turnovo, Access to Information Program organized a second round table Advocacy for Free Access to Information.

On 23nd March 2007 in Montana Access to Information Program held a one-day discussion on active provision of information, particularly publication of information on institutional web sites, with local and regional government officials from the Regions of Montana, Vidin, and Vratsa within the project Increasing Government Transparency and Accountability through Electronic Access to Information, financed by the UNDP Democratic Governance Trust Fund (DGTF).



On 22nd March 2007 in Vidin Access to Information Program held a round table Advocacy for Free Access to Information with representatives of NGOs and media, as part the implementation of the project Strengthening NGOs in Their Search for Public Information, financed by PHARE Programme – 2004 Civil Society Development.

International Freedom of Information Litigation Conference—Lessons Learned was held on 25-26 November 2005 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The conference was organized by Access to Information Programme Foundation with the support of the Council of Europe. Participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Rumania, Moldova, Albania, Hungary, the Check Republic, Armenia, Georgia, the Netherlands, and the USA visited Sofia to take part in the event.

Access to Information Program (AIP) has organized the celebration of the International Right to Know Day on 28 September for the third successive year. The ceremony was held in Mati hall in the National Palace of Culture. Positive and negative awards were given in eight categories. Read more on the special web site: www.RightToKnowDay.net.

AIP held the first Right to Know Day Awards Ceremony in Bulgaria. On a press conference on Sep. 28 AIP presented awards to citizens, media and NGOs, who have actively exercised their rights to freedom of information. Two awards - a positive and a negative one - were given to institutions. More information on the nominations and the ceremony can be found here.