Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) will reintroduce its news services in Romania and Bulgaria “in a bid to strengthen the media landscape in both countries.”

The service will be available again beginning December of this year. RFE/RL will “provide multi-media reporting and analysis in Bulgarian and Romanian and partner with local media to amplify existing projects that promote public accountability and debunk false news,” it said.

In the region, RFE/RL has bureaus in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. It also has a Romanian-language service for the Republic of Moldova.

RFE/RL ended its service in Romania in 2008, and that in Bulgaria in 2004. During the Communist regime in Romania, it was the main independent news source for Romanians who would listen to it in secret.

"We hope in particular that our coverage, carried out by local journalists, will help the growth of a free press, promote democratic values and institutions, and inform discussion in both countries of their place in NATO, the EU and other Western organizations. We look forward to partnering with local independent media and civil society,” Thomas Kent, the RFE/RL president, said.

RFE/RL is an editorially independent media company funded by a grant from the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. It has programs in 25 languages and 20 countries "where media freedom is restricted, or where a professional press has not fully developed."

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editor@romania-insider.com