The "Free Europe" radio station will also cease broadcasting in Bulgaria

Thursday, Feb 26, 2026

HVG

Free Europe’s operations ceased in Hungary and Romania, citing financial reasons, despite past anti-corruption work.

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[This is an automatically generated summary, for reference only]

The Free Europe, which operated in Szófia, resumed activities in 2019 after a five-year hiatus, citing the rise of Russian disinformation as the reason for restarting operations; its Romanian and Hungarian editorial offices restarted in 2018 and 2020, respectively, with the Bucharest team being the largest. The Bulgarian Free Europe was popular in Bulgaria due to its anti-corruption and investigative journalism, reaching hundreds of thousands through various digital channels. Ivan Bedrov, head of Svobodna Europa, acknowledged the closure but is seeking ways for current staff to continue working together. Steve Kapus stated that the closures of the Bulgarian and Romanian offices were “exclusively financial,” although political reasons have been suggested regarding the Hungarian office’s closure. Kari Lake, a senior advisor to USAGM (the publisher), previously argued against using American taxpayer money in NATO countries for content creation and claimed Free Europe’s original goals no longer align with current US national interests. In a letter to a congressional representative, the advisor stated that Free Europe undermined Trump’s foreign policy by confronting the legally elected Hungarian Prime Minister, and later on X, asserted that globalists should not use American taxpayer funds to destabilize Hungary through Free Europe. Decisions were made to cease operations for the Romanian branch on February 6th and the Hungarian one on November 21st of last year.

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