Irina Peter and Dr. Birgit Wetzel are our this year's journalism research fellows. From 11th to 13th of May they have met with Bulgarian journalists and experts in Sofia. The two journalists had the opportunity to talk with the German Ambassador to Bulgaria, Irene Maria Plank, about the political and media situation in the country. They also visited the editorial office of the Bulgarian news portal "dnevnik.bg" and had a conversation with the Deputy Editor-in-Chief Petar Karaboev. The program also included a meeting with the Head of the KAS Country Office for Bulgaria, Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes, as well as with the Head of the foreign news department of the private television station bTV, Kristina Baxanova.

During the conversations, the research fellows were able to deepen their knowledge on the topics of Bulgaria's internal politics, relations with Germany, and also about the Western Balkans. In addition to a city tour, there was also planned a visit to the famous Boyana Church, which is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The two research fellows will spend whole two months in researching one or more topics in Serbia and Bulgaria. They have the opportunity to work with local partner media outlets journalists. The aim is to deepen the understanding of German journalists about the media situation in the region, but also to boost stories from South East Europe in German media.