site.btaParliament Adopts Government's Annual National Security Report for 2016

Sofia, October 5 (BTA) - Parliament Thursday adopted 104-96 the Council of Ministers' Annual National Security Report for 2016.

The report reads that in 2016 no specific data have been received for planned and prepared terrorist attacks against Bulgarian or foreign sites in this country. Listed as threats to national security are: organised crime, VAT fraud, smuggling of tobacco and tobacco products, investment of capital of suspicious origin, fraud with EU funds, corruption, drug and human trafficking, forgery of electronic payment instruments, and crimes against the person and property. The report also lists conventional crime, robbery, and theft as having the greatest influence on citizens' sense of security.

The report concludes that compared to 2015, general criminality dropped and the number of solved crimes increased by 8.8 percentage points. In 2016, a total of 103, 773 crimes were registered, which is a decrease by 7.4 per cent from a year earlier, and 49,460 of these were solved.

Two national and 415 police and specialised operations were conducted last year for third-country nationals residing illegally in Bulgaria. The migration pressure is a risk which requires the implementation of long-term measures for the construction and maintenance of fences along the borders, as well as for an increase of the capacity of security and public order services, the report reads.

Among the factors with long-term effect on social security are: the negative demographic processes, the poor education among a high percentage of the population, the economic crisis' pressure and its influence on the state of marginalised communities, the migration crisis, the rising number of socially excluded persons, and the increase in the number of people experiencing problems on the job market. The report underscores that the demographic crisis leads to significant regional economic imbalances.

According to the report, the energy security risks stem from the ongoing high level of Bulgaria's dependency on a single energy supplier - the Russian Federation - and the insufficient intersystem connectedness with the neighbouring countries, as well as the crisis between Russia and Ukraine and the immediate threat of gas transit interruptions because of it.

The decrease of the export to Russia and the lower EU growth due to Brexit are identified among the risks before the economy.

Regarding agriculture, it is indicated that wildfires entail hazard with their number having tangibly increased in the recent years. The agriculture sector is singled out as one of the risky ones in relation to the abuse and inefficient management of EU funds.

Concerning the policy of protection of the cultural and historical heritage, the report focuses on the encroachment on the archaeological movable cultural heritage - the illegal searching for archaeological items and their storage, export, trafficking and subsequent trade outside the country.

During the discussions the parliamentary groups of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) declared themselves against the report. In their opinion, there were major gaps in it - it does not address the question of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council, cybersecurity, border security, etc. MPs of BSP and Ataka find problematic the fact that Russia is mentioned as a threat to Bulgaria's national security. GERB Floor Leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov countered that there is no such conclusion in the report. This is a belated report and this is the primary threat to the national security, MRF leander Moustafa Karadayi said.