WikiLeaks on Bulgarian Politics

In 2011 the media organization WikiLeaks became very popular in Bulgaria. The project of Australian hacktivist Julian Assange was one of the most cited sources of information. The Bulgarian media drew heavily on the analyses and reports of US diplomats in Sofia released by WikiLeaks. Last year WikiLeaks published a number of classified cables sent to the State Department by the US ambassadors to Bulgaria between 2005 and 2010 – James Pardew, John Beyrle, Nancy McEldowney, and James Warlick. The disclosure of the information contained in those cables became one of the major media events in Bulgaria in 2011 because they shed light on dubious deals and individuals in the last few years.

The traditional media were initially sceptical about Julian Assange’s project but the nature of the information disclosed by his organization led to a significant change in their attitude towards WikiLeaks. In 2011 the Bulgarian media followed the example of international media and kept a close eye on the leaks. Unlike in 2010, the cables on Bulgaria received widespread coverage and attention in the public sphere. One of the reasons for the heightened interest was the partnership between Julian Assange’s organization and the Bulgarian whistleblowing websites Bivol.bg and Balkanleaks.eu. The two websites gained exclusive access to the secret documents on Bulgaria and translated them into Bulgarian. By way of comparison, in 2010 there was significantly less information about Bulgaria because WikiLeaks had no media partners in the country, while the cables on Bulgaria were rarely mentioned in the big western media. In 2011 the Bulgarian public realized why WikiLeaks matters.

The major disclosures published by the Bulgarian media concerned the following: details about the construction of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant, the most significant project in Bulgaria’s power industry; Bulgaria’s economic alignment with Russia; the scale of organized crime in the country, and so on. Most of the information provided by WikiLeaks was not entirely new to the Bulgarian reader, and the disclosures were not as shocking as they were expected to be. Thus, for example, the ties of the ruling elites with organized crime, the inefficient judicial system, and the strong Russian influence in the energy sector have long been the subject of debate. Still, the Bulgarian media duly reported every new release from WikiLeaks. The reports by the US ambassadors to Bulgaria often did not provide irrefutable evidence for their claims, but the very fact that the sources were authoritative foreign observers made them more newsworthy. WikiLeaks made it easier for the Bulgarian media to address issues that were previously discussed off the record. At the same time, Assange’s media organization partly displaced the traditional media from their monopoly position in journalistic investigations.

In 2011 it became clear that the publication of WikiLeaks cables has the potential to influence public opinion. The organization of a flash mob in front of the Palace of Justice in Sofia in June was telling in this respect. The action was performed to protest against the problems in the Bulgarian judicial system. It was occasioned by a report of former US ambassador to Bulgaria Nancy McEldowney published in the media a few days earlier. The main conclusion in the report was that the Bulgarian judicial system needs serious reforms in order to function properly.

Another significant event related to the WikiLeaks disclosures was the investigation launched by the State Agency for National Security (DANS) against General Nikola Kolev who was suspected of disclosing classified information that subsequently appeared in some of the leaked documents. The investigation was launched in July, but so far no evidence has been found to prove or disprove that General Kolev had something to do with the secret documents published by WikiLeaks.

To everyone’s surprise, the case of General Kolev was the only one that became the subject of an official investigation. Similar information in many of the other cables was assumed to be insufficient to justify an investigation. Thus, for example, Bulgarian prosecutors did not see anything wrong in a cable reporting Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s ties with organized crime. WikiLeaks also published a list of illegally rich Bulgarians with ties to the underworld but the Consultative Council on National Security declared that there was no sufficient evidence to substantiate those claims. In other words, the classified cables circulated in the public sphere but there was no adequate reaction from the institutions in Bulgaria. Most often, the cables were used for personal attacks and inter-party squabbles. Thus, for example, the cables on the Bulgarian energy projects led to a constant exchange of accusations between the present government and former energy minister Rumen Ovcharov.

As a whole, the cables describing the personal characteristics of Bulgarian politicians became the most popular. They dealt mainly with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Prosecutor General Boris Velchev, former interior minister Rumen Petkov, and former energy minister Rumen Ovcharov.

The Bulgarian media’s biggest omission in 2011 was their failure to make maximum use of the information provided by WikiLeaks. Their main interest was focused on more sensational topics while serious issues such as the passage of the GMO law, for example, remained on the periphery of the media agenda.