State Agency for National Security

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Logo of the State Agency for National Security (SANS)

The State Agency for "National Security" ( Bulgarian Държавната агенция Национална сигурност / Transcription: Darzhavna Agencia "Nacionalna Sigurnost"; Cyrillic: ДАНС / Transcription in Bulgaria : DANS is responsible for the protection of the national security goals and security : DANS) Like all other government agencies in Bulgaria, DANS is subordinate to the Council of Ministers and performs tasks for which a ministry was not created. The chairman and his two deputies are elected by parliament.

DANS is the successor organization to the previous secret service with the additional involvement of the national anti-corruption authority. The headquarters of DANS is in Sofia, at 45 Bulevard Chani Vrach .

DANS is supposed to observe, uncover, counteract and prevent planned, prepared or executed actions against the security of Bulgaria. As part of this task, DANS is also responsible for security in the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense, in the Bulgarian armed forces and in the institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Defense.

founding

The DANS has existed since January 1st, 2008. The legal basis was the law on the State Agency for "National Security" passed in second reading on December 11th, 2007 .

predecessor

The DANS is the successor organization of the National Service for "Security" (NSS; bulg. Национална служба "Сигурност"; НСС) and the Directorate for the "Protection of Information Equipment " at the Ministry of Interior, the military counterintelligence at the Ministry of Defense, the main directorate for the fight against organized crime (GDBOP; bulg. Главна дирекция за борба с организираната престъпност; ГДБОП) and the Financial Intelligence Agency . All employees of the predecessor services integrated in DANS were transferred to DANS, with special discounts. This caused dissatisfaction among the other employees in the Interior, Defense and Finance Ministry.

ladder

  • Petko Sertow (Bulgarian Петко Сертов); December 27, 2007 to August 10, 2009 (the first head of DANS);
  • Zwetlin Jowtschew (Bulgar. Цветлин Йовчев); August 10, 2009 to February 25, 2011;
  • Deljan Peewski (Bulgarian Делян Пеевски); June 14, 2013 to June 19, 2013;
  • Vladimir Pisantschew (Bulgarian Владимир Писанчев); from June 19, 2013 to March 11, 2015;
  • Dimitar Georgiev (Bulgarian Димитър Георгиев); since March 18, 2015

DANS attracted public interest when the Bulgarian parliament elected the MP and media oligarch Deljan Peewski to head DANS. As a young lawyer (born in 1980), he had absolutely no intelligence service experience. He was also said to have close ties to organized crime . His election sparked nationwide protests against Prime Minister Oresharsky and his government. Because of the immediate, great public outrage, Deljan Peewski announced his resignation after a day in office. However, this backward movement could no longer appease the daily mass protests of thousands of middle-class Bulgarians, whose protests were now generally directed against the appointment policy of the Oresharski government and the filling of key state posts with shady people and against the breaking of election promises.

When the law for the appointment of the controversial media mogul and banker's son Deljan Peewski was "cobbled into shape" and Peewski was appointed head of the secret service by parliament in an urgent vote, even before a threatened legal veto by the Bulgarian President Rossen Plevneliev , Oresharsky lost popular support and the confidence of Plewneliev.

Tasks and working principles

The tasks of DANS are:

  1. Enlightenment of foreign forces
  2. Defense against threats to the sovereignty, territorial unity of Bulgaria and the unity of the nation.
  3. Defense against unconstitutional activities
  4. Investigating the involvement of people in the highest government offices in corruption and links to organized crime
  5. Fight against the use of force or against the use of generally dangerous means with political goals
  6. Defense against threats to the economic and financial security of Bulgaria
  7. Defense against threats to the environmental security of Bulgaria
  8. Violations of the National System for the protection of classified information uncover
  9. Defense against threats to objects and activities that are of strategic importance for Bulgaria
  10. Defense against destructive actions against the communication and information system
  11. Defense against international terrorism and extremism
  12. Fight against illegal international trade in weapons and dual-use goods and technologies.
  13. Prohibiting the illegal production, storage and distribution of generally dangerous substances , products and technologies with a dual-use character, narcotics and their intermediate products, if this results in a danger to the normal functioning of the state.
  14. Combating cross-border crime when it poses a threat to national security.
  15. Fight against illegal migration that threatens national security.
  16. Fight against financial fraud through unfavorable contracts, money laundering and fraudulent use of subsidies from EU funds.

To fulfill these tasks, DANS also carries out operational reconnaissance activities, information activities (construction, maintenance and use of databases) and control activities (to detect violations of the National System for the Protection of Classified Information )

According to the law, DANS is based on the following principles when performing its tasks:

  1. Constitutional compliance, compliance with the laws and international treaties that Bulgaria has entered into
  2. Respect and guarantee of human rights and fundamental freedoms
  3. Protection of information and its sources
  4. Objectivity and impartiality
  5. Cooperation with the citizens
  6. political neutrality

Control of DANS activities

According to the law, DANS is subject only to parliamentary control exercised by a specialized permanent commission of Narodno Sabranie . Upon request, the manager, his deputy and the DANS employees must appear in front of the Narodno Sabranie or its commission and provide information on the information requested.

It is criticized that this parliamentary control is relatively weak in comparison with other European secret services: there the parliamentary commissions for the control of the secret services are usually dominated by the opposition and not, as in Bulgaria, by the parliamentary majority.

Only in this way can a real political neutrality, objectivity and impartiality of the secret services be guaranteed and thus it is guaranteed that the secret service is not misused for political goals and to discredit the ruling unpleasant organizations, associations and citizens.

Public debate

The DANS Act now gives the DANS, as a former espionage investigation authority, executive police powers, while the newly created DANS was also given tasks to fight corruption in the government and to combat its links to organized crime.

status

The extensive powers and rights that DANS and its employees have been given and their imprecise legal status make DANS a hybrid between secret police, classic counter-espionage and a special service to combat crime and corruption.

The activities of DANS lead to great resentment in the population. There were doubts as to whether their legally defined principles matched actual activities.

Information function

According to the DANS law, the head of DANS has to inform the following persons at the same time and to the same extent:

Accountability report

For the first time since it was founded, DANS will give an account of its activities in 2008 to the press on March 20, 2009. The following became clear:

  • The currently valid instructions for the use of special reconnaissance equipment hinder the work of DANS and must be changed.
  • As a result of the operational investigations and operational-technical clarification of the DANS, 380 cases were reported to the public prosecutor's office and the criminal activity of 405 people was prosecuted. On the basis of the materials developed by DANS, the public prosecutor's office has initiated 170 investigations.
  • In connection with money laundering, DANS reported 9 times to the chief public prosecutor's office. This involved a total of 375 million euros.
  • On the basis of information from DANS, the Minister of Finance ( Plamen Orescharski ) has stopped the financing of two projects and imposed 48 fines in this connection with a total of 130,000 leva .
  • In the fight against organized crime, DANS agents found a Russian group. Investigations were opened and two members of the Russian mafia were arrested and the transfer of 221,000 euros was blocked, as well as bank accounts with 8 million euros in deposits.
  • A Bulgarian national was arrested for US $ 117,000 financial fraud committed in the United States
  • DANS succeeded in convicting its own deputy chairman as well as a deputy DANS district manager of a criminal act
  • After DANS investigations, the public prosecutor's office initiated two preliminary investigations into the misuse of money from EU funds.
  • DANS found violations of Bulgaria's economic interests to a considerable extent in the following companies: in the Mariza Istok thermal power plant (Bulgarian ТЕЦ Марица Изток 2; this is part of the Mariza Istok thermal power plant ) and in Kremikowzi AG (owner of the property and The accused is CSKA Sofia )
  • DANS has uncovered VAT fraud that has caused Bulgaria a loss of 5 million leva. (Note: According to official statistics, VAT fraud in Bulgaria results in financial losses of several billion leva annually.)
  • After DANS investigations, proceedings were opened against three people who carried out unlawful financial transactions and emptied accounts at Internet banks.
  • Following investigations by DANS, a case was opened against an employee of the National Social Insurance Fund (Bulgarian: Националната здравноосигурителна каса) who had resold information classified as “confidential”.
  • In the Ministry of Defense and in the armed forces, following investigations by DANS, two preliminary investigations and two preliminary investigations into abuse of office were initiated - because of enrichment in the award of public contracts.
  • During DANS operations, 3.5 tons of marijuana and 50 kilograms of raw materials for the production of synthetic narcotics were seized. A shipment of 77 kilograms of heroin was intercepted and an illegal drug laboratory dug up
  • After de DAN's investigation, a Turkish association and foundation was uncovered, which served as a cover for an unregistered Turkish Islamist sect and a Lebanese organization.
  • In cooperation with the public prosecutor's office and customs, DANS has prevented the attempt to illegally export dual-use goods via Burgas airport and the port of Varna .
  • The Dans compiles information materials, analyzes and forecasts for other authorities on a weekly basis.
  • DANS experts analyze international conflicts and crises and prepare proposals and position papers on international issues for politics.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reinhard Veser: Citizens against the Mafia. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, July 10, 2013.
  2. ↑ Tim Gerrit Köhler: Protests in Bulgaria against the head of government. Loss of confidence at a record pace. ( Memento from June 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) ARD, tagesschau.de, June 21, 2013.
  3. ↑ Michael Gahler, MEP and Security Policy Spokesman for the EPP Group in the European Parliament: Democracy at risk - Bulgaria threatens Ukrainian and Romanian conditions. Press release June 14, 2013.
  4. ↑ Milen Radev: News from the land of roses and muscle men. de-zorata.de June 14, 2013.

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