How does the media influence public discourse on corruption and anti-corruption? And how can we ensure information integrity in an age of disinformation, propaganda, fake news and hybrid attacks? 

To answer those questions in the context of Bulgaria, Sensika, a global media monitoring and analytics firm, processed more than 44 million articles in Bulgarian online media outlets and more than 20 million Facebook posts and comments on corruption and anti-corruption topics between January 2023 and February 2024.

Bulgarian citizens need no reminding that corruption causes immense social harm, including limiting a country's ability to fight poverty, negatively affecting economic development, rupturing social values and eroding the fundamental principles of democracy and good governance.

But what do they really think about corruption in their country and the Government’s anti-corruption efforts? It is vital to gather evidence on this in order to better shape government anti-corruption policies and communications going forward.

Public procurement is a notorious risk area for corruption and other unfair business practices all over the world – including in Bulgaria, where diverse stakeholders are now coming together to find a practical solution to corruption risks in public tenders that works for all parties.

One solution they are discussing is a High-Level Reporting Mechanism. In essence, this is a channel to raise and quickly resolve alerts about suspected bribery or unfair business practices in public tenders.

Corruption and fraud risks in public procurement are a concern all over the world – including Bulgaria, where scandals around infrastructure and procurement projects damage trust in government, drain the public budget and may also affect EU development funds.

Corruption was on the main programme of the Munich Security Conference on 16–18 February 2024 for the first time.

“Fighting corruption has to be a collective effort. No single stakeholder can do it alone. Government cannot do it alone, or the public administration. If only citizens are left to fight corruption, they will struggle. And the private sector likewise.”
– Gretta Fenner, Managing Director, Basel Institute on Governance

Bulgaria's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has a critical mission: to develop knowledge, skills and competencies in Bulgaria's judicial system and thus promote the rule of law.

We are delighted to be supporting them in this mission under a new agreement covering: