The names of the agents from the communist-era State Security will be disclosed every time they apply for any public office. This decision was voted by the National Assembly which approved amendments to the law on access and disclosure of documents, and on making public the affiliation of Bulgarian citizens to State Security. Until now, the Dossier Committee was only allowed to disclose the names of the State Security agents after the first inspection.

“Thirty-three years have passed since the changes, but a lot of the people who have worked for the repressive apparatus of the communist regime still occupy key positions in the country, and that is something that must be public knowledge,” said Atanas Atanasov, MP from Democratic Bulgaria who submitted the bill, explaining the motives for the amendment.

Democratic Bulgaria’s partners from the ruling coalition – the Bulgarian Socialist Party voted against the bill, while the Movement for Rights and Freedoms did not take part in the vote.