Bulgaria has been a member of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) for more than 30 years. However, it will be difficult to find a young person who can guide you to the railway station in French. In the mid-20^th century, French was among the leading languages in Bulgaria’s secondary education. Nowadays, however, the language of Baudelaire and Rimbaud is taught mainly in specialized foreign language schools and some universities. How, then, Bulgaria became a member of the organization, together with countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and Canada, where French was recognized as an official language? The love of French, which bridges the French-speaking cultures on five continents, is the answer. Along with promoting the French language and cultural diversity, human rights, the rule of law, democracy and economic cooperation, the Francophonie offers various forms of cooperation.

“The work in support of media is among the most important priorities of our organization”, the Representative of the International Organization of La Francophonie for Central and Eastern Europe Eric Poppe said in an interview for Radio Bulgaria.

“Promoting pluralism and freedom of media and teaching high-quality journalism is among the most important tasks of The International Organization of La Francophonie”, Mr Eric Poppe noted and added:

“I decided to visit Bulgaria to meet with French-speaking journalists and see how our organization can support them in their work. Of course, this job is extremely difficult, especially when you come across various sources of information, including unreliable sources. There are also physical risks, especially in the war zones, when some journalists lose their lives. Sometimes, journalists get killed when they try to inform the public about certain events.”

In addition to the armed conflict, an unprecedented information war is being waged in Ukraine- from fake footage of military conflicts which took place in other countries to detentions of journalists, including Odessa journalist Yuri Tkachev, who sacrifice comfort in the name of truth. 

“Unfortunately, our organization has limited capacity. Recently, we adopted a resolution condemning the war in Ukraine. Truth is sometimes an expression of a certain point of view. The most difficult thing is to inform without trying to distort the facts. The expression of a personal opinion is an exception. In these cases, journalists must clearly state their position. Real journalism is a dangerous job which takes commitment. OIF trains journalists to adhere to pluralism and freedom of speech and determine the reliable sources of information.”

As for Bulgaria, The International Organization of La Francophonie intends to strengthen its cooperation with French-speaking journalists and urge young people to discover the opportunities offered by the French language.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov