Bulgaria lacks intelligence agents abroad, the 2016 report of the State Intelligence Agency reads. The biggest problem is related to staffing. The recruitment of well-educated and highly-qualified experts at the operational units requires a lot of time and investments in human capital, the report further shows. The other huge problem is connected with the technical support of the operational activities. It requires additional financing and efforts. The ongoing tendency of increased complexity of the security environment and increased risks and threats over Bulgaria, as well as the substantial increase of the financial and technical capacity of foreign special services require a more responsible statesmanlike approach with regard to the activity of the Bulgarian special services as a basic element of the system for protection of the country’s national security, are some of the conclusions of the SIA report. There is a permanent trend of increased uncertainty worldwide. The analysis of the foreign security environment shows that the situation in regions close to Bulgaria has been deteriorating and the negative tendencies are of a sustainable character, the Bulgarian intelligence contends. According to the analysts, the negative development of the migration crisis in 2016 outlines a series of risks on the national security. Bulgaria has been subject to constant migrant pressure due to its geographical position. There is a risk of jihadists crossing Bulgaria, infiltrated in migration flows. It is a prerequisite for the establishment of terrorist cells on Bulgarian territory and possible radicalization of ethnical minorities with low social status. According to the intelligence agency, the ongoing activity of foreign intelligence services, the crisis in the EU, Brexit, Bulgaria’s energy dependence (It imports 90% of the gas quantities from Russia), the cyber-attacks, the tension in the Western Balkan countries, the cross-border organized crime and the tension in the countries in the Middle East and North Africa are the main foreign factors that have negative influence on Bulgaria.

Compiled by: At. Tsenov

English version: Kostadin Atanasov