Stanimir Vaglenov

COMRAT/ TASHKENT – Russia tried to influence Moldova's political decisions by funding its operations in an attempt to prevent it from joining the EU. When the EU cut off direct channels, Moscow used other routes, via Uzbekistan, to continue funding operations aimed at influencing the EU.

SKOPJE / SOFIA – North Macedonia faces record forest loss for the second year in a row, outpacing other countries in the Western Balkans. According to the European Forest Fire Information System, between 2020 and 2024, wildfires have ravaged 134,314 hectares of forest and woodlands in North Macedonia, the largest loss in the region.

ROME / SOFIA / BUCHAREST – Proper recycling of PV panels can generate large quantities of raw materials crucial for the energy transition. Yet, due to the presence of harmful and toxic substances, solar waste can become extremely dangerous when it ends up in the wrong hands.

SOFIA/BUDAPEST - When people think of adoption, they think of poor countries in the global south. However, Flanders and the Netherlands adopt children from other European countries, such as Bulgaria and Hungary. This cross-border investigation shows that Roma children in these countries are discriminated against and end up in the adoption system due to stigma, poverty and a lack of support for families.

MILAN/SOFIA/ARAD – Tens of thousands of tonnes of textile waste arrive in Romania and Bulgaria every year, mainly from Italy and Germany. Despite the fact the EU had acknowledged the extent of the textile waste smuggling across the continent, no strategy so far proved to be efficient in preventing it.

EPERNAY / COLOMBO - For decades, champagne has been a symbol of luxury. But in recent years, the sparkling wine from eastern France has taken a battering. Severalhuman trafficking scandals have hit the famous French industry.

BUCHAREST - Dozens of people definitively convicted in Romania live today in Italy.

BUCHAREST - The need of Italian mafia networks to carry out vast money-laundering operations took them to Romania and Bulgaria. They set up companies that not only succeeded in flying under the radar but also won government contracts. 

BRUSSELS - Vulnerable Bulgarian women are coming to Belgium and the Netherlands to live with elderly people who prefer to stay at home rather than go to a nursing home. They will care for these elderly people during the last years or months of their lives. This research is a case study of the practices of Seniorcare24, a major provider of these services in the Low Countries, and the fate of the caregivers seconded by this company from Bulgaria.

SOFIA - The story focuses on the plight of cash-strapped Bulgarian women who come to Belgium and the Netherlands as posted workers to care for elderly people who want to spend the last months or years of their life in their own home, instead of in a retirement home. The investigation focuses on one of the main players on the market offering such services, Seniorcare24.

RIGA - There are important disparities in the price of cancer medicines within the 28 EU member States. New cancer drugs are incredibly expensive for patients in some Eastern member states or simply not available because of shortages.

KATUNITSA - Some 10 to 12 million Roma are estimated to travel around Europe. The political dimension of this ethnical and social challenge is an ongoing discussion in the EU, but what is never told is the dark economy of Roma migration. Who benefits from the large afflux of mainly poor people into western Europe?

TALLINN - According to experts, Estonian financial institutions are popular among criminals for laundering money because Estonia offers cheaper currency transactions than Russia and less regulation than in the EU. Its convenient location for such transactions adds to the appeal.