Sofia has always been a place that is worth a visit! Our three research scholars for South East Europe also got the chance to visit the Bulgarian capital for their meeting on May 12th and 13th. The program included a visit to the well-known online portal dnevnik.bg including a conversation with the deputy editor-in-chief Petar Karaboev, a dinner with the German ambassador in Bulgaria Christoph Eichhorn and an exchange with the head of the Bulgarian KAS-office Thorsten Geissler. During the talks, the scholarship holders were able to deepen their knowledge of the political and social situation as well as to gather better understanding of the media landscape in Bulgaria. Of course, in addition to a city tour as a cultural highlight, they also visited the Boyana Church, which has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979.
For the first time this year, the KAS Media Program Southeast Europe awarded three research scholarships to German journalists who would like to spend two months researching one or more topics in the countries of the region. They have the opportunity to work with a partner media on site. The aim is to deepen the understanding of German journalists about the media situation in South East Europe, but also to reinforce stories from the Southeastern European countries in German media. The three scholarship recipients this year are: Karin Finkenzeller (Wirtschaftswoche) in Romania, Jovana Kastratovic (Deutsche Welle) in Serbia and Oliver Bilger (Tagesspiegel) in Bulgaria.