Bulgarian MEPs oppose screening of BBC Mogilino documentary in European Parliament

Bulgarian MEPs oppose screening of BBC Mogilino documentary in European Parliament

Wed, Feb 13 2008 19:59 CET 561 Views

Bulgarian members of European Parliament (MEPs) from all parties united to oppose the screening in the European Parliament (EP) of the BBC documentary on disabled children in the Mogilino social care home.

The MEPs sent a letter to EP president Hans-Gert Pöttering, asking him to stop the documentary's screening, Bulgarian news agency BTA said.

The documentary, filmed in 2006 and 2007, did not cover fully and objectively the social care for abandoned children in Bulgaria, BTA quoted the letter as saying.

Bulgaria's Abandoned Children will be screened at the suggestion of Irish MEP Kathy Sinnott on March 4 2008.

BBC4 aired the documentary in September 2007. It was filmed over a period of nine months at a social care home for physically and mentally disabled children in Mogilino, in northern Bulgaria, showing the poor living conditions of the children in the home. The documentary attracted the attention of numerous institutions and NGOs, as well as the public throughout the EU, forcing Bulgaria to defend the efforts it provided to disabled people.