site.btaUPDATED Parliament Overrides Presidential Veto on State Intelligence Agency Act Revisions

Bulgaria's Parliament on Thursday voted, 126-86 with no abstentions, to override a veto imposed by President Rumen Radev on amendments to the State Intelligence Agency Act passed on October 10, 2025.

The votes for came from GERB-UDF, MRF-New Beginning, BSP-United Left, There Is Such a People and two independent MPs. The lawmakers of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, Vazrazhdane, two MPs of BSP-United Left, Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, MECh and Velichie opposed the motion.

Under the amendments, the Chairperson of the State Intelligence Agency will be elected and released by the National Assembly and the number of its deputies was increased from two to three.

Previously, the power to appoint and dismiss the Chairman of the agency was vested in the President of the Republic.

The Debate

Tsveta Rangelova (Vazrazhdane): My parliamentary group concurs with the President that this bill must not be voted through. This bill denies the President a lawful opportunity to appoint the chairperson of this service which is concerned with national security and, in this sense, is part of the executive branch of government. If the National Assembly elects the chairperson, this body will undoubtedly be politicized, which is why the power is vested in the President. The bill tramples on these principles, it tramples on the balance of power. The increase of the deputy chairpersons to three entails that the three political forces currently in government will render up one deputy each. 

Nikolay Radulov (MECh): My parliamentary group will not back the revisions. Nevertheless, the amendments practically eliminate the possibility of caretaker cabinets appointing particular persons to particular offices. In such cases, however, the intelligence service will be controlled by the coalition that has the voting power in the National Assembly. The chairperson having three deputies is a little bit too much considering that the service is 25% understaffed. It is amusing to have a deputy in charge of cyber intelligence without having technological capabilities for this. The service will be difficult to manage, it will turn into a bludgeon tasked with definite political cravings.