Half of Bulgarian Diplomats Exposed as Communist Security Collaborators

The so-called "Files Commission" is investigating Bulgaria's communist-era police files. File Photo

Bulgaria's special panel, investigating the communist-era police files, known as the Files' Commission, announced Tuesday that nearly 190 Bulgarian Ambassadors and Consuls have been collaborators and agents of the former Communist State Security.

The probe involved 462 diplomats. The law mandates checks of Ambassadors, Consuls, and Deputy Directors of diplomatic missions.

The nearly 50 percentage of collaborators of the former Communist Services is the highest so far.

The Commission has checked the Interior Ministry, the State Agency for National Security, the State Agriculture Fund, the Commission for Protection of Personal Data, the National Revenue Agency, the National Audit Office, the National Health Insurance Fund, the National Social Security Institute, the Privatization Agency, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the print media, among others, and the average percentage has been around 10%.

The files of the former State Security are a thorny issue in Bulgaria, especially when it comes to the past of high-ranking officials.

Bulgaria's communist-era security service is believed to have remained potent after the fall of communism with the ex-operatives closely linked to the political and business establishment.

The blacklist of former state security agents and collaborators already features Socialist President Georgi Parvanov, MPs, former constitutional judges, supreme magistrates, investigators, members of parliament, prominent and well-known former and current Bulgarian journalists, high-ranking employees of the Interior, the current Head of the Customs Agency, Vanyo Tanov.

Expect further details.

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