site.btaPresident Radev Vetoes Amendments to Military Intelligence Act

August 5 (BTA) - President Rumen Radev vetoed and
returned for further consideration the law amending the Military
 Intelligence Act, his Press Secretariat said Monday.

The head of State does not agree with the revisions that would
allow for a civilian to head the Defence Information Service as
an alternative to the former requirement that it be headed by a
military officer.

The President argues that the Defence Information Service is in
charge of the entire intelligence community in the Armed Forces,
 plans intelligence activities in the various armed services and
 specifies the information that should be obtained in the
interest of Bulgaria's defence.

The Service's management should possess the necessary specific
knowledge and professional experience in order to ensure the
execution of its main tasks, which are related to obtaining not
only intelligence but any information necessary for the defence
of this country and the protection of national security from
external encroachment, risks and threats, Radev argues.

According to the President, the amendments create the risk of
violating the principles of the centralized management and
control of intelligence.

In his motives, Radev notes that the possibility of the Defence
Intelligence Service to be headed by a civilian might impair the
 principle of political neutrality. If the Service is headed by
a military officer, his or her entire professional path is
guided by the restriction to not be a member of any political
parties, movements or coalitions. For a civilian head, however,
such a restriction will be applied only after he or she is
appointed, as the existing requirement does not specify that the
 Defence Intelligence Service head should have never been a
member of any political parties in the past, but only during his
 or her term of office.

This poses a serious risk of politicizing military intelligence.
 The law should clearly state the requirements for occupying the
 post, based on the principles that intelligence activities are
founded on. If the deputy heads are civilians too, there might
be no military officers in the entire management of the Service,
 the President notes. "This is contrary to the nature of the
activities and the characteristics of the Defence Intelligence
Service as an integral part of Bulgaria's Armed Forces," Radev
says. RY/TH



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