Bulgarians mourn murdered journalist, EU calls for fast inquiry

VIGILS

Vigils were planned in Sofia, Ruse and the northern cities of Vidin and Pleven.

"DNA will reveal the killer of Viki", read the headline on the front page of Standart newswpaper on Monday.

Marinova, who has a seven-year-old daughter, was on the board of the Ruse-based TV station TVN - a popular channel in northeastern Bulgaria which broadcast her show Detector.

Reporters Without Borders said other TVN journalists should get police protection during the investigation. The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was "shocked by the barbaric murder".

Bulgaria ranked 111 out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders world press freedom index this year, lower than any other EU member and also lower than other countries in the western Balkans, some of which are candidates for EU membership.

In October 2017 hundreds of Bulgarian journalists protested in downtown Sofia downtown against threats from Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov against the country's biggest broadcasters. He accused the mainstream media of leading a "massive smear campaign" against him.