New Bulgarian Intelligence Chief Views Service's State, Priorities

published in Trud (Sofia)
March 4, 2003

Interview with Colonel Kircho Kirov, chief of the Bulgarian National
Intelligence Service, by Irena Marinova; place and date not given: "I am
Carrying General's Baton"


[FBIS Translated Text]     [Marinova]   Who are you, Mr. "Top Spy?"

    [Kirov]   I am a 52-year-old man who is married and has a son.   I
consider myself a professional intelligence officer.   I am one of the
people who, as Suvorov [Russian general who defeated Napoleon's army]
said, has always carried a general's baton in his backpack.

    I think that intelligence is more than a profession because it is a
way of life.   Bringing into the open details about its day-today
operations would not help its work.   I hope that you, journalists, will
understand why I would not always be able to respond to your questions.
I have the greatest respect for journalists' work, but the line must be
drawn somewhere and there should be some distance.

    [Marinova]   There had been reports of a pending change of the
director of the National Intelligence Service [NIS] since Simeon
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's election as prime minister and Georgi Purvanov's
election as president.   Your name was not mentioned for the post,
however.   When did you learn that you would be appointed head of the NIS
and who told you?

    [Kirov]   I heard this from Khorizont Radio on the day when the
government's decision was announced.

    [Marinova]   What about the time before that?

    [Kirov]   I had never had any contacts with the prime minister before
that.

    [Marinova]   Whose candidate were you?   Was it 1 Dondukov Boulevard
[prime minister's office] or 2 Dondukov Blvd. [president's office] that
nominated you?

    [Kirov]   There was some balance...   I consider myself the candidate
of the prime minister and the president, and above all the candidate of
the officers working for the NIS.

    [Marinova]   Has there been a political deal regarding the allocation
of the leading positions in the intelligence service?

    [Kirov]   The NIS is a nonpartisan institution.   I do not want to
comment on the question of political appointments in such institutions.

    [Marinova]   Did you nominate Colonel Lyudmil Angelov for deputy
chief or was he imposed on you?

    [Kirov]   I know Col. Angelov well and have worked with him in the
past.   I think he, too, was appointed by consensus.

    [Marinova]   There are reports that he would actually be in charge of
the service.

    [Kirov]   The definition of what the top figure in the intelligence
service does indicates very clearly who would be first and who would be
second-in-command and who would actually be in charge of the service.

    [Marinova]   Temporary things tend to become permanent in Bulgaria.
Will your temporary control of the service go on for a long time?

    [Kirov]   I cannot comment on why my deputy chief and I were
appointed as acting directors.   If we are successful, and I mean to be
successful...

    [Marinova]   You want to be the full-time director, do you not?

    [Kirov]   Yes, I cannot hide the fact that this is my ambition.

    [Marinova]   Your brother Volodya is a member of the BSP [Bulgarian
Socialist Party] Supreme Council.   What are your own ties to 20 Positano
Street [BSP headquarters]?

    [Kirov]   I have no personal ties to Positano St.   I am not trying
to hide the fact, however, that I was once member of the Bulgarian
Communist Party.

    [Marinova]   How did you manage to push aside Brigo Asparukhov
[former NIS director], the main candidate for the job?

    [Kirov]   I have the greatest respect for Mr. Asparukhov as a
professional.   As a politician he is capable of helping the NIS well
enough.

    [Marinova]   How would you guarantee that there would be no leaks of
classified information from the NIS?

    [Kirov]   A system has been established under the Classified
Information Act to control the movement of such information.   Access to
classified information does not mean that each and every one of the
employees of the NIS would handle such information.   There will be
levels of access.

    [Marinova]   Should the secret dossiers of all former State Security
agents be declassified?

    [Kirov]   This issue has not been addressed adequately in the course
of our transition period.   This has brought great harm to all security
structures.

    [Marinova]   This has also resulted in abuse and in the selling of
files.

    [Kirov]   I do not want to comment on the ethics of those who are
engaged in playing around with the dossiers.

    [Marinova]   Is it true that Gen. Dimo Gyaurov wanted to fire you
last year?

    [Kirov]   Let us leave the past behind us and look forward.

    [Marinova]   What are the challenges facing your service?   What are
the risks to our national security?

    [Kirov]   The challenges facing our service are linked to the
challenges facing Bulgaria.   They are our full membership in NATO and
the completion of the negotiations with the EU.   The more general risks
are associated with the various possibilities regarding the outcome of
the Iraq crisis.   The economic risks are primarily associated with the
rising oil prices.   There are political risks concerning relations
between Bulgaria and Iraq and Bulgaria and other Arab countries.   There
are also risks associated with the operations of extremist organizations.
  Everyone knows about al-Qa'ida and Hizbollah, but there are many other
unknown organizations and we have no guarantees that members of such
groups are not currently on our territory.

    [Marinova]   Can the Bulgarians feel secure about their lives and
security?

    [Kirov]   At this time I am not under the impression that Bulgaria
could become a target for terrorist attacks.   It would be realistic to
expect, however, that there could be attempts to carry out terrorist acts
against interests of NATO member-states in Bulgaria.

    [Marinova]   In what state has Gen. Gyaurov left the service to you?

    [Kirov]   The problems in the NIS have worsened since 1991 for a
number of reasons.   The NIS is fully operational, but we have human
resources problems.

    [Marinova]   Is it true that Gen. Gyaurov was fired because the
United States asked us for information on Iraq only to discover that our
intelligence service was inactive in the Arab world?

    [Kirov] ...

    [Marinova]   Are not your professionals being lured to work for
private companies and industrial groups?

    [Kirov]   The NIS maintains very stringent standards when it comes to
hiring people.   Our functions are such that it would be extremely
difficult for employees of the NIS to become involved with private firms
and corporate interests.

    [Marinova]   How are you going to look for moles?   The National
Security Service has admitted having this problem.

    [Kirov]   We do not have any such problems in the NIS.

    [Marinova]   Did the NIS do its job in connection with the Terem case
[illegal attempt to export military spare parts to Syria] and how?

    [Kirov]   The NIS is not working on domestic issues and I am not
prepared to accept any accusations in reference to this case.

    [Marinova]   The president said that he was the one who told one of
the services about the scandal.

    [Kirov]   I do not think that he meant the NIS.

    [Marinova]   You are not going to tell me how many intelligence
officers are under your control, but are you experiencing a shortage of
manpower?

    [Kirov]   Yes.

    [Marinova]   How do you intend to overcome it?

    [Kirov]   This is mostly tied to the new priorities...

    [Marinova]   Was it not the result of previous purges?

    [Kirov]   It is tied to the new tasks that would come as a result of
our full membership in NATO and the fact that it is difficult to train a
true professional officer.

    [Marinova]   Should there be a separate law on the NIS or should
regulation come from one piece of legislation on all secret services?

    [Kirov]   I would rather prefer a separate law on the NIS and the
sooner it is adopted the better.   I support the view of Gen. Gyaurov and
his predecessors that the politicians have not done enough for the
intelligence service.

    [Marinova]   Who should control the NIS?   Should it be the president
or the executive branch?

    [Kirov]   I do not think that this is the most important issue.

    [Marinova]   Can you guarantee that there will not be different
treatment and a bias in the information that is being sent to the
president, the prime minister, and the chairman of the National Assembly?

    [Kirov]   They enjoy equal access to our information.   There will be
no special preferences or bias.

    [Marinova]   Have you already been introduced to the service?

    [Kirov]   Yes, I met the colleagues.   I want to motivate them in a
new way.   I told them that I would insist on three things.
Professionalism is the keyword in our business.   We should have
continuity because the NIS is not starting with the appointment of Kircho
Kirov.   And then there is integrity.

[Description of Source: Sofia Trud in Bulgarian -- popular privately
owned daily; labor-oriented, sometimes critical of both the government
and the opposition]