site.btaNational Service for Protection Hosts 4th Conference of Protection Services of EU Member States' Parliaments

The National Service for Protection (NSP) hosted the 4th edition of a conference featuring the protection services of the parliaments of the European Union’s Member States, the NSP said on Thursday.

National Assembly Chair Rosen Zhelyazkov opened the forum. NSP Brigadier General Emil Tonev said that the highest mission is to safeguard the democratic foundations of societies, to ensure the security of parliamentary institutions and the safety of those elected to represent the people. 

The conference was attended by security officers and experts from the European Parliament and the parliamentary institutions of 22 member states of the European Union. Topics of discussion included secure access to parliamentary institutions, resilience to cyber threats, risk assessment, operational cooperation and information sharing with the police and other security services.

The ongoing war in Ukraine, terrorist threats, threats of a hybrid nature and in cyberspace are only some of the factors of the security environment that complement and support the internal divisions in contemporary societies, the NSP head said. He recalled that socio-political divisions at the national level the EU countries are becoming more and more tangible, and that on June 9 Bulgaria hold snap parliamentary elections, together with the vote for members of the European Parliament. "The most visible manifestations of civil discontent are precisely in front of our parliaments," stressed Tonev.

"An attack on any parliament, in the physical world or in cyberspace, is an attack on democracy. Therefore, your work is of extreme importance", said Zhelyazkov to the participants and guests of the conference.

"In an extremely dynamic security environment, we all realize how important it is to share operational experience and for security services to interact effectively and with trust," the National Assembly Chair added and congratulated the NSP for hosting the representative professional forum.