Bulgarian NGO Blasts PM for Communist Security Stand

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee was established on July 14, 1992, as an independent non-governmental organisation for the protection of human rights.

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) has voiced strong alarm over statements of caretaker Prime Minister, Marin Raykov, about the former Communist State Security.

Speaking at an emergency briefing Thursday, Raykov denied reports that Bozhan Stoyanov, deputy minister in charge of the energy sector in Bulgaria's caretaker government, has been a State Security, DS, collaborator.

"After the fall of Communism the issue with State Security turned into the chalga of the transition period," the caretaker PM stated.

On Friday, BHC countered such attitude was unacceptable, stressing it was provoked by the past inadequate access of the Files Commission, the panel investigating Communist era records, to the State Security archives.

According to the NGO, this has led to issuing "certificates for clean background" to some individuals only to emerge later they were involved with DS.

"These certificates have been used to appoint people to senior posts, as it is the case with Stoyanov. We realize that the person who has made the appointment is not to be held responsible; we also realize that the new information on the deputy minister in charge of the energy sector is the deed of other former DS agents. However, along with this, the attitude of the PM is unacceptable as we need transparency regarding the past of those who have the power to direct out public life. Such transparency is even more essential when it comes to the Communist secret services as they had a devastating influence on society and on morals not only in totalitarian times, but during the transition to democracy," BHC writes.

The NGO calls on Raykov to reconsider his attitude about DS collaboration and tell society openly his stand on the crucial for Bulgaria issue.

Raykov, himself, was recently accused of having been a secret collaborator of the Communist Defense Ministry's intelligence unit, known as RUMNO. He firmly rejects any such claims.

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