site.btaBulgarian Helsinki Committee Warns of Democratic Backsliding in National Security Reforms

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) views the decision to strip the presidential institution of key powers in favour of the ruling parliamentary majority as a step towards weakening democracy. BHC also holds that the adaptation of procedures for appointing the heads of the State Intelligence Agency (SIA), the State Agency for National Security (SANS), and the State Agency for Technical Operations (SATO) undermines national security, the human rights watchdog said in a statement published on Friday.

The National Assembly is preparing to vote, under a fast-track procedure, on legislative amendments that mark yet another step towards eroding the democratic foundations of the state and upsetting the balance of power, BHC said. The proposed changes aim to limit the institutional role of the President and concentrate power in the hands of the ruling majority formed by GERB, There Is Such a People, and the Bulgarian Socialist Party, a coalition effectively controlled by Delyan Peevski, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, who is under international sanctions for corruption, the statement reads.

Through amendments to several laws, the President would be stripped of the power to issue decrees for the appointment of key national security officials proposed by the Council of Ministers — namely the heads of SIA, SANS and SATO. Instead, these appointments would be made directly by the National Assembly, BHC said.

According to the human rights organization, this legislative move is a direct response to the President’s refusal to appoint Denyo Denev as head of SANS, a nominee put forward by the governing coalition. The President’s refusal falls well within his constitutional powers, rooted in the principle of mutual checks and balances, BHC said.

At the same time, the President would lose the right to use the services of the National Service for Protection (NSP). This would leave the head of state as the only high-ranking public official without access to institutional security, while even rank-and-file MPs would continue to be entitled to such protection, the statement said.

These actions not only expose the President to real risks but also endanger national security, it said.

Included in the same package of amendments is a provision aimed at the immediate replacement of the leadership of the National Statistical Institute (NSI). In recent months, the NSI leadership has come under attack from political parties, such as the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane, and from two state bodies, the Commission for Protection of Competition and the Commission for Consumer Protection.

All of these proposals — and the rush to adopt them — illustrate how the legislative process is being used not to guarantee the independence and professionalism of public institutions, but to settle personal and political scores, BHC said.

It noted that the National Assembly is meant to embody the democratic will and serve as a mechanism for transparency and accountability. The planned decisions, however, clearly reveal a different reality — an orchestrated parliamentary majority and a subversion of the democratic process.

BHC recalled that the politicization of appointments to key public institutions has already led to public discontent and a loss of trust, as seen in the controversial appointments of Constitutional Court Judge Orlin Kolev, Deputy Ombudsman Maria Filipova and others, whose nominations have become symbols of opacity and political manipulation.

This is not legislative work befitting a rule-of-law state, the watchdog said. This is a blatant subjugation of institutions — even at the expense of national security — and the dismantling of the balance between branches of power, it concluded.

With its statement, BHC joined an outcry among opposition politicians against the proposed amendments. One of the negative reactions on Thursday came from Yuliana Mateeva, deputy floor leader of the Velichie party, who described the intention to deprive the presidential administration of NSP’s services as "a cheap farce aimed at publicly humiliating the Bulgarian president".