KAS MP SOE

Thorsten Geissler, Head of the KAS country office in Bulgaria, explained the concept of party affiliated foundations.

KAS MP SOE

Christian Spahr, Head of the KAS Media Program South East Europe in Sofia, commented on the media situation in the region and presented the activities of his office.

KAS MP SOE

Following the presentations, the speakers discussed the importance of the work of political foundations in Bulgaria with the audience.

The event was opened by the Deputy Managing Director of the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Carmen Struck. Thorsten Geissler, Head of the KAS country office in Bulgaria, explained the concept of party affiliated foundations. He emphasised on their legal and organisational autonomy and political education and consultation being their main objectives. "These fundamental principles apply not only to the KAS but to all German political foundations," said Geissler. Moreover, he explained that KAS promoted European values as well as the social market economy. "Politics alone cannot suffice, we also need the civil society," Geissler stated. For this reason, the foundation works closely together with youth and women's organisations, amongst others. In his remarks, the Head of the KAS office underlined Bulgaria's role as a strategic partner for Germany: "It is very positive that the number of delegations between the two countries constantly increases."

Christian Spahr, Head of the KAS Media Program South East Europe in Sofia, commented on the media situation in the region and presented the activities of his office. Using the example of a ranking by the non-profit organisation Reporters Without Borders, he showed how the media freedom in many South East European countries has deteriorated. Spahr added that the citizens' trust in the media has further declined. According to him, the lack of quality journalism is partly due to non-transparent ownership structures of media outlets as well as bad working conditions for journalists. He proposed more effective media legislation as well as better self-regulation as possible means to tackle these issues.

Spahr presented some recent projects of the KAS Media Program South East Europe, for example two new publications on war reporting and journalism education as well as selected events in the field of political communication. Moreover, Thorsten Geissler introduced the KAS Rule of Law Program South East Europe, being the Head of the respective office in Bucharest himself. He said that first successful steps in the fight against corruption have been made in some of the South East European countries. Nevertheless, as stated by Geissler, the effective implementation of the law still needs to be further improved.

Daniel Kaddik, Project Manager of the FNF for South East Europe, outlined the fundamental principles of his organisation and presented recent activities by the FNF.

Following these presentations, the speakers discussed the importance of the work of political foundations in Bulgaria with the audience. Kaddik and Geissler commented that the German foundations coordinate their local activities and complement one another thematically. In this way, the foundations could cover different policy areas and target groups with their activities.