Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria Iliana Iotova on Friday described freedom as the foundation of democracy.
Iotova expressed the thought in her address during the opening of the 18th World Meeting of the Bulgarian Media in Kazanlak, a town in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital.
She added that as a critical ingredient for the sustenance of democracy, it was important to always think about freedom, talk about it, and live it.
“We can only be free if we speak the truth without fear.
“There is nothing better than fighting fake news with truthful information.
“We should never allow ourselves to be overcome by fake news.
“We should educate the people with the truth because it will free them,” she said.
The Bulgarian vice president described fake news peddling as “cultivated illiteracy” .
According to her, people with transient power should never be allowed to foist fake information upon the citizens and expect them to accept it.
“This, to me, is freedom; this to me is strength,” she said.
Iotova maintained that all Bulgarians, no matter where they were living in the world, “are equal”.
“Free people make a free nation and a free nation makes free people,” she emphasized.
She praised the Director General of the Bulgarian News Agency, Kiril Valchev, for giving journalists the opportunity to promote freedom successfully.
She also praised him for promoting Bulgaria’s rose and described the citizens of Kazanlak as people with pride.
Earlier, Valchev had spoken about what the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) was doing to ensure truthful reportage of issues in order to counter fake news and provide the people with information that would enable them to make informed choices.
The BTA chief had also spoken glowingly about the traditional Rose Festival in Kazanlak.
