"
Bulgaria, as a member of the General Assembly's First Committee, also
cosponsored a resolution to secure guarantees that the seabed would be
used only for peaceful means.

In regard to the question of nuclear and thermonuclear testing, Bulgaria
sought the early passage of an agreement to prohibit all nuclear weapons
testing while the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were going on
between the United States and the Soviet Union. Bulgaria also
participated actively in the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer
Space. As a member of a subcommittee's working group, proposals and
working papers were submitted on the question of liability for damage
caused by objects that were launched into outer space. For its part,
Bulgaria sought to clarify the "question of applicable law" and the
"settlement of disputes."

The country was also represented in bodies dealing with economic
questions; questions of development; and social questions involving
housing, building, and planning as well as the promotion of children's
welfare. Additionally, the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development had Bulgarian delegates in five of its working groups,
dealing with trade and development, commodities, domestic shipping,
international shipping legislation, and the transfer of technology.
Bulgaria is also a member of the Economic Commission for Europe.

CHAPTER 11

MASS COMMUNICATIONS

Since the Communists took over the government in 1944, the mass
communications systems have been perceived as instruments of propaganda
and vehicles for party control. Because of this perception of the
significance of the media, the new government immediately claimed all
mass media as state property.

There is little if any tolerance of the free expression of ideas
throughout the entire mass communications system. Because Bulgaria is
more closely tied to the Soviet Union than most of the other Eastern
European countries, the dictates of Moscow are virtually followed to the
letter in the media. Themes that are initiated in Moscow are reiterated
almost verbatim in Sofia. The major theme of the mass media is respect
for and emulation of the Soviet Union, although recently some social
themes--such as the problems of youth and alcoholism--have been
incorporated as well.

The only sources of information and entertainment permitted to the
people are the domestically controlled mass media. Most Bulgarians
distrust information available to th