Radio Free Europe to reopen office in Romania and Bulgaria

A press release from Washington on Wednesday evening announces the plans of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to launch new news services in Romania and Bulgaria in order to strengthen the media landscape of the two countries, the radio station announces in the electronic edition.

“We especially hope that our broadcasts by local journalists will contribute to the development of a free press, to promote democratic values and institutions, and sustain debates in both countries about their place in NATO, the European Union and other Western organizations. We are looking forward to partnering with independent local media and the civil society,” Thomas Kent, president of RFE/RL, said.

According to the press release, government officials, representatives of civil society and journalists from both countries have expressed concern that misinformation, corruption and social divisions are about to undermine their political systems, the release reads.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty will begin broadcasting, as of December 2018, multi-media reports, political analyses in Bulgarian and Romanian, and to work in partnership with local media to expand existing projects, to promote accountability and to counter the false information.

Established during the Cold War to combat communism, the merger between Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty closed down its operations in Romania in August 2008, after 60 years. However, the US-funded radio station continued to broadcast in Republic of Moldova and the Transdnestrian region, but also in other dozens of countries in Eastern Europe, in the Balkans and the Middle East.