site.btaState Intelligence Agency Bill Passes on First Reading

State Intelligence Agency Bill  Passes on First Reading

Sofia, May 20 (BTA) - Parliament adopted a State Intelligence
Agency Bill by a vote of 122-4, with five abstentions, on first
reading on Wednesday. It was introduced by Tsvetan Tsvetanov
(GERB) and a group of MPs. A bill sponsored by Reformist Bloc
MPs was rejected by a vote of 14-35, with 72 abstentions.

The State Agency will report to the Council of Ministers and
will not deal with domestic policy tasks, said Tsvetanov. The
bill sticks to the established principle that the parliament
leader, the President and the Prime Minister are provided with
information of an identical volume and content. The bill also
regulates cooperation with the intelligence bodies of other
states and NATO and EU entities.

The Agency is headed by a chairman appointed by a presidential
decree on the Council of Ministers' proposal for a five-year
term. An inspector - a new figure in the intelligence service -
will report to the chairman and will be appointed by the Prime
Minister. The inspector can report to him if the chairman orders
a certain inspection stopped or not started at all.

Tsvetanov said civilian intelligence and military information
would remain independent units of the security system. In
contrast, the Reformist Bloc's bill suggested that they should
merge.

Atanas Merdjanov (BSP - Left Bulgaria) said his group would back
Tsvetanov's bill because it made realistic proposals for
change: civilianization and subordination to the government. He
said the President must not be able to set tasks to the Agency
because this would be exceeding his powers and would tip the
balance among the branches of government.

Aihan Etem (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) said his group
would support the bill because it would finally regulate the
functional relationships among the special services.

The Patriotic Front and the Bulgarian Democratic Centre also
backed Tsvetanov bill.

Ilian Todorov (Ataka) said the new agency would be stillborn. He
raised the issue that this would be the third agency in
Bulgaria - after the State Agency for Technical Operations and
the State Agency on National Security - that would have the
right to use special surveillance means. He saw a problem in the
lack of competition for the appointment of Agency staff.