On January 9, the Minsk-Novosti agency reported that the Union of Bulgarian Journalists had invited representatives of the Belarusian Union of Journalists to take part in a discussion titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Fight Against Fake News: Which Solution Will Prove Most Effective?” The event is being held in Sofia on January 26, with online participation also available. However, the Bulgarian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty found that no such invitation had been issued.
As the chair of the Union of Bulgarian Journalists, Snezhana Todorova, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the published information is “a vivid example of a fake.”
“This is fake news and an active measure. It is not the first time someone wants to strike at the Union of Bulgarian Journalists and personally at me,” she said.
Tododova added that “one would have to be mentally deficient to invite Belarusian journalists, knowing that they would not be able to come.”
Tododova also confirmed to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry that the Minsk-Novosti publication was fake. The ministry sent her an official note after receiving information from Bulgaria’s embassy in Poland, which in turn had received a signal from the United Transitional Cabinet.
The website of the Union of Bulgarian Journalists lists Georgi Gotev and Kalina Angelova, representatives of the EU-funded EU4Debunk project, as lecturers and moderators of the event.
Gotev told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that he was not aware of any invited Belarusian journalists, but said the event was “open to everyone.”
Snezhana Todorova is known in Bulgaria as a supporter of Russia. In 2025, she received the Order of Friendship from Vladimir Putin, and in July 2024 she visited Belarus, writing enthusiastically about the country.
The Union of Bulgarian Journalists has continued cooperation with official Belarusian and Russian media even after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
