Milen Tsvetkov remembered as influential Bulgarian journalist after fatal 2020 crash

Milen Tsvetkov (born 30 July 1966 in Sofia) became a prominent Bulgarian television journalist, beginning his career in the early 1990s at Bulgarian National Television’s program “Ku‑ku”. He later worked for Nova TV, hosting shows such as “Zdravei, Bulgaria”, “Kalendar” and the talk show “Chasŭt na Milen Tsvetkov”, and later presented the programme “Alternativata” on TV1.

On 19 April 2020, Tsvetkov was killed in a serious traffic accident on Chorni Vrah boulevard in Sofia when his car, stopped at a red light, was hit from behind by a speeding, drug‑using driver. The driver received a nine‑year prison sentence, confirmed by Bulgaria’s Supreme Court of Cassation in 2023. In his memory, a street in the Poduyane district of Sofia bears his name, and a documentary film “Milen” about his life premiered in 2025. He would have turned 60 on 30 July 2026.