Bulgaria's Counterterrorism Center to Start Collecting Data on Violent Extremism, Radicalization

A draft decree of Bulgaria's Council of Ministers envisages tasking the National Counterterrorism Center with the collection of data on violent extremism and radicalization.

The document, which envisages changes to the activities of the centre, is being coordinated with the Interior Ministry, according to reports of dnevnik.bg

The unit was set up in 2014 at the State Agency for National Security (DANS).

The center is in charge of the coordination and cooperation between governmental entities for the adoption of measures in the field of the fight against terrorism.

Under the draft decree of the Council of Ministers, the activity of the center is to expand, including work on violent extremism and radicalization, and its structure is to undergo slight changes.

The obligation of the center to gather, process and analyze PNR - Passenger Names Records and ??I - Advanced Passenger Information on people travelling to, from, and across Bulgaria drops.

Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova made clear that the changes were made due to the forthcoming establishment of a new entity that would gather and process this type of passenger information.

Bachvarova specified that the new unit would not only gather and process information for purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of terrorism but other serious crimes within the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry and the Customs Agency.

She noted that the activities of the National Counterterrorism Center would still be executed by officials of the State Agency for National Security, the National Intelligence Service, the Interior Ministry, and the Defense Information Service at the Defense Ministry, who will be determined by the heads of these structures.