BULGARIA STRUGGLES TO DISCLOSE COMMUNIST-ERA FILES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SOFIA 001655

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIA STRUGGLES TO DISCLOSE COMMUNIST-ERA FILES

Ref: (A) Sofia 1499, (B) Sofia 786


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Bulgaria's parliament passed groundbreaking
legislation on December 6, to open up the files of the former
communist secret services. Under the law, adopted after heated
debate, all senior officials in the Presidency, Parliament,
government, the Judiciary, academia, mass media, etc., will be
checked for links with the former State Security service. The
Socialist-led majority decided, however, that second-tier chiefs in
the present-day intelligence services will not be checked for
affiliation to the State Security due to national security reasons.
The controversial provision was adopted after intense discussion
among the partners in the ruling center-left coalition and under
what MPs termed as "immense pressure" from the current intelligence
leadership and influential Socialist circles. The new legislation
was also marked by the mysterious death of the official in charge of
the ex-communist intelligence files. The timing and delayed public
announcement of his apparent suicide triggered a wave of speculation
and highlighted the need for Bulgaria to come to terms with its
communist-era past. END SUMMARY

THE UNTOUCHABLES: INTELLIGENCE CHIEFS


2. (SBU) Unlike other East European countries, Bulgaria has never
fully released the files of its former State Security Committee (the
communist security agency that included intelligence and
counter-intelligence services and political police.) Socialist PM
Sergei Stanishev has shown political will to resolve the sensitive
and divisive issue, even though his party is expected to suffer most
from the file's disclosure. While there has been broad consensus
among the political class that the files of the notorious communist
political police should be opened in full, influential BSP
politicians have argued that some of the communist intelligence
files should be kept classified "for national security reasons."
Thus, in what has become the biggest controversy surrounding the new
law, the BSP-led majority decided that heads of departments, offices
and sections within the present-day military or civil intelligence
services will not be checked for affiliation with the former State
Security. The widely debated amendment to the initial draft was
adopted after tense consultations between the BSP and its coalition
partners, the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF)
and the National Movement for Simeon II, both of which have demanded
the complete release of the files.

POLITICAL PRESSURE


3. (SBU) MPs from the ruling coalition, who drafted the law, backed
off after an emergency meeting with the National Intelligence
Service (NIS) chief, Gen. Kircho Kirov, who reportedly argued the
amendment was needed to protect people who are still on active
intelligence duty. MPs who drafted the law openly spoke about being
subjected to "immense pressure" from the current intelligence
leadership and influential Socialist circles to adopt the
controversial text. MRF deputy leader Kassim Dal, an author of the
initial draft law, said in an interview that Kirov's strong
opposition to files' complete disclosure illuminated the fact that
his service had not been sufficiently reformed. A vocal opponent of
the archives opening, Kirov has said that "the archives should not
be opened immediately and read like a newspaper." He was backed by
the communist-era intelligence officers, now grouped in the
Association of the Reserve Intelligence Officers, who told a news
conference the declassification of the files would be a "suicidal
act" for the present-day intelligence services.


4. (SBU) The issue has drawn a dividing line within the Socialist
Party as well, with reformist BSP MP Tatyana Doncheva telling local
media about pressure coming from "the very top" of the state. A
leader of the lobby in favor of complete disclosure, Doncheva
stopped short of directly pointing the finger at President Georgi
Parvanov, although clearly implied his involvement. The
center-right opposition party led by ex-PM Ivan Kostov, however,
openly accused Parvanov and the NIS which is under him, of inspiring
the controversial text, and again reminded the public about the
Socialist President's alleged ties with communist-era State
Security. Parvanov, the former BSP leader who won re-election by a
landslide in October, earlier this year openly voiced his opposition
to the files' declassification, saying that the issue "might push
Bulgaria back." Allegations that Parvanov collaborated with the
State Security intelligence service led him to acknowledge in June
the existence of a secret intelligence file on him, code-named
"Gotse" (Ref. A). This dossier should be kept in the NIS which
presently houses the files of the communist intelligence service
(the State Security First Directorate). Interior Minister Roumen
Petkov, a close associate of Parvanov, has also firmly opposed the
files' opening and was allegedly among the Socialist politicians who
exercised pressure on BSP MPs to adopt the controversial text.

PUBLIC FIGURES UNDER SCRUTINY


5. (U) The new law opens the files of the communist State Security
Committee and the Bulgarian military intelligence services prior to
July 16, 1991, when those services were formally disbanded. The law

SOFIA 00001655 002 OF 003


stipulates the disclosure of the names of public figures who have
worked or collaborated with the communist secret services. Falling
into this category are:
-- President, Vice president; Prime Minister, government ministers,
senior officials in the Presidency, government, Judiciary, central
bank, government agencies, regulatory bodies;
-- Senior officials in the Ministries of Interior, Defense and the
intelligence services;
-- Regional governors and deputies, mayors, deputy mayors and
municipal counselors;
-- Senior officials in the state and private media, academia,
polling agencies, professional trade unions, public health
organizations;
-- Senior officials in financial institutions (banks, insurance and
re-insurance companies, brokerage houses, investment intermediaries
and investment funds,) gaming companies and telecom operators;
-- Senior officials in the political parties, religious communities,
chambers of commerce and sports organizations;
-- Senior Bulgarian officials in the EU, NATO bodies and every other
international organization of which Bulgaria is a member;
-- Any officials holding positions through a presidential
appointment (such as Ambassadors) and through an appointment by
parliament, government or the PM.

INDEPENDENT BODY TO UNVEIL FILES


6. (U) The communist-era files will be reviewed by an independent
commission, whose nine members will be elected by parliament for a
five-year term. No political party or coalition will have a
majority. The commission will collect, study, analyze and evaluate
the information in the State Security files and the Bulgarian
military intelligence files; disclose and announce the names of the
pubic officials whom the committee has established have links to the
services; and publish this info on the commission's Internet site.
The archives of the State Security and the communist military
intelligence should be handed over to the commission within eight
months. The law allows every Bulgarian citizen to have access to
information collected by the former State Security and the military
intelligence services about them and their deceased relatives.

MYSTERIOUS DEATH PROMPTS SPECULATION


7. (SBU) The need to resolve the issue with the communist files was
further highlighted by the death of the official responsible for the
intelligence archives, who was found in his office with a bullet in
his head just two weeks before parliament started debating the new
law. Bozhidar Doychev, 61, had served since 1991 as director of the
National Intelligence Service (NIS) archives. The public
announcement of Doychev's death, however, was delayed for 24 hours
and was made only after a London-based Internet news provider broke
the story. Only then did Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev and
Interior Minister Roumen Petkov confirm his death, saying that
Doychev had most probably committed suicide for personal reasons and
dismissing any link to his job. The timing of his death and its
delayed announcement, however, triggered a wave of speculation.
Center-right opposition MPs and commentators openly contest the
official version, speculating that Doychev might have been subject
to pressure to destroy some documents for people who want their
links with the former security services to remain hidden. Local
press noted that of the present NIS staff, only Doychev and service
chief Kirov had unlimited access to the full archive. Doychev's
relatives added fuel to the fire, telling local media they were
dismayed by the official explanation, without benefit of an
investigation, or even questioning the relatives.


8. (U) Kirov said the reason his service had not announced Doychev's
death was that NIS was not a public agency and did not have a press
office. Gen. Dimo Gyaurov, who headed the NIS in 1997-2002,
questioned the official explanation, saying that "no one so far has
given a single serious argument in support of this version." "I
would not rule out, him being subjected to a certain pressure which
could have become the reason (for the suicide)," Gyaurov, who
recently returned from an assignment as Ambassador to Hungary, told
a TV interview. Local media recalled that Doychev's death was not
the first one of a key intelligence official that could be related
to the communist intelligence files. In 1991, Gen. Stoyan Savov,
deputy head of the State Security's First Directorate, committed
suicide just a day before he had to appear in court as a defendant
on a case of alleged destruction of State Security files.

SECRETS AND LIES UNVEILED?

SIPDIS


9. (SBU) Although belatedly adopted, the public expectation is that
the law will help expose links of current politicians and public
figures to State Security, thus diminishing their influence on
various areas of Bulgaria's public life. The opening of the files
may also shed more light on the State Security service operations,
with the work of the notorious Sixth Directorate, the political
police that was used as an instrument of oppression by the communist
leadership, expected to evoke strong public attention and painful
revelations. The files may also unveil more information about the
foreign operations of the intelligence services, including the

SOFIA 00001655 003 OF 003


notorious 1978 "umbrella" murder in London of dissident writer
Georgi Markov. Public interest will also focus on files with
information about the overseas trading companies and offshore shell
companies launched by the State Security in 1983-1989. Those firms
later provided the resources for most of the private commercial
banks and businesses that sprung up after communism collapsed,
forming the country's business elite. The files may give
information about communist-era "hidden transit," a term used by the
secret services for the state-organized and controlled channels for

SIPDIS
smuggling arms, drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, precious metals, and
antiquities from and through Bulgaria. Those channels, organized by
former counter-intelligence, have served as a basis for
post-communist organized crime groups and their disclosure may
illuminate links of current organized crime figures to the State
Security.

DOUBTS STILL REMAIN...


10. (SBU) Many Bulgarians, however, remain skeptical, saying the
files are unlikely to yield critical revelations, because the past
17 post-communist years have provided ample opportunity for the
communist archives to be destroyed or tampered with. Back in 1991,
a court case established that a significant portion of the State
Security files was burned in January-February 1990 in the furnaces
of a metallurgical plant in the small town of Pernik. According to
some reports, as much as 46 percent of the files of all
collaborators, 30 percent of the files of people placed under
surveillance, and 91 percent of the archive on those who let
facilities to the secret police had been destroyed in this period.
This, coupled with speculation that some of the archives had been
exported to Moscow right after communism collapsed, support the view
among Bulgarians that the whole truth about the State Securities
deeds and network may never be unveiled. Politicians and
commentators said that much will depend on the new commission's
composition and the will of the Interior Minister and secret
services' chiefs to implement the law and hand over the complete
archives on time.

COMMENT
--------------


11. (SBU) The adoption of the new law may not reveal the whole story
of the communist State Security, but it still constitutes Bulgaria's
most far-reaching move to date to deal with the sensitive issue of
the communist-era files. Insiders have told us the passage of the
landmark law was just the first battle - they expect stiff
opposition to the actual implementation of the law from the same
circles that fought to limit its scope, and a major battle over the
nomination of the Commission's chairman, who will have access to the
most sensitive files that are not subject to disclosure. Although
slow and difficult at present, we expect that this process will
ultimately have a positive impact on Bulgarian society in the
long-term. It will also lend credibility to a new generation of
post-communist politicians, such as PM Stanishev, who has been
supportive to the process despite strong internal party opposition.
END COMMENT
BEYRLE