Bulgaria's Reformatorski Bloc Demands National Security Service Closing

Center-right formation and current member of the government Reformatorski Bloc (RB) stated that it will not support the proposed amendments to the Law regarding the National Security Service (NSO) in the format currently presented.

The announcement was made by RB leader Radan Kanev Wednesday at a conference held at New Bulgarian University in Sofia.

''We must not cause a scandal in Parliament, but we need to demonstrate humility and to offer something completely different on the security measures taken to protect a very limited circle of high-level Bulgarian officials,'' Kanev explained. In his words, the NSO is a reminiscent of the former socialist rule in the country and has no equivalent in any other democratic state. Furthermore, its budget is ten times higher than that of Counter-terrorism service. The former boasts the impressive BGN 40 M, while the latter has a relatively modest sum to spend on an annual basis - BGN 4 M.

The NSO guards currently are around 400 and drivers are about 100, as reported by Pressa daily.

The debate regarding whether the security service needs to be moved from the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian President to the Parliament has been ongoing in the country.

Meanwhile, MPs from the center-right ruling party GERB remained surprised by the announcement made by their current political partners from RB.

''We have not thought about withdrawing the proposal for legislative amendment,'' stated Chair of the Commission on services control Dimitar Lazarov. He said that in his opinion the NSO needs to remain authonomous, as per the legislative regulation at the moment.

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev also shares this view, as he has, in numerous occasions, stated that NSO needs to remain under the...