site.btaState Intelligence Agency Chair Nominee Gechev: Agency Should Use Virtual Space More Actively to Identify Potential Agents

The State Intelligence Agency should use virtual space more actively to identify potential agents, said nominee for State Intelligence Agency Chair Antoan Gechev at a parliamentary hearing on Thursday. Gechev is seeking a second term as the Agency’s head. The hearing was held by Parliament’s Committee for Oversight of the Security Services, the Application and Use of Special Intelligence Means, and Access to Data under the Electronic Communications Act.

Gechev said most of his proposals for the Agency’s development were already being implemented. After the 1990s, the Agency scaled back its intelligence work and focused mainly on human sources, while traditional official cover became the established method, he said.

That approach remains relevant, but the growing accessibility of information also requires non-traditional cover, Gechev said. Such cover gives officers greater flexibility, better concealment and more security. He added that another priority is obtaining information from electronic systems and databases of targets of interest.

Gechev described the staffing shortage at the Agency as serious. He said an internal analysis about two years ago had found that one of the main problems was the Agency’s excessive closedness and secrecy. Since then, it has presented its work to students at universities in Sofia and at professional forums, organized student internships and posted vacancies on its website.

Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) Chair Atanas Atanassov called the shortage a “serious staffing failure” and asked why it had not been resolved during Gechev’s five-year term. He also asked whether the Agency had been saving money on staff bonuses. Gechev denied this, saying significant efforts had been made to fill vacancies. Part of the problem, he added, was candidates’ health and psychological resilience, as it would be unreasonable to appoint people who could not be sent to high-risk environments.

GERB-UDF MP Mladen Marinov asked about the Agency’s draft budget for this year. Gechev said he was not familiar with the final version, but added that the Agency had so far maintained a certain level of activity under constraints that also limited its development. He said remuneration was not the main motivation for working at the Agency.

Asked by Democratic Bulgaria MP Alexandra Sterkova what made him a suitable candidate for a second term, Gechev said the Agency was developing positively. “I know the Agency, I know where its problems are, and I have ideas for solving them. There is scope for optimization, but this depends on a number of objective circumstances,” Gechev said.

On June 10, the Government proposed that the National Assembly elect Gechev to a second term. Under amendments to the State Intelligence Agency Act adopted last year, the Agency chair is elected by the National Assembly on a proposal by the Council of Ministers. Parliament later adopted rules for nominating a chair, holding a committee hearing and electing the chair.

The appointment procedure for the heads of the security services became politically contentious in 2025. Parliament changed the rules for the State Intelligence Agency, the State Agency for National Security and State Agency Technical Operations, drawing criticism from opposition MPs and civil society organizations that the changes could politicize the services and weaken checks and balances. Vazrazhdane MPs challenged the amendments before the Constitutional Court, which agreed in December 2025 to hear cases on the selection procedure.