Balgarianovinite.com Parliament’s Budget Committee approved the development of a proposal for legislative changes to dissolve the Committee for Disclosing the Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens to State Security and to the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian National Army (informally known as the Secret Police Files Committee), and to transfer its activities to the Archives State Agency by September 15. This is being done through the transitional and final provisions of the 2026 State Budget Bill, which the Committee is debating at second reading on Tuesday.
Thirteen members of the Committee voted in favour, while eight voted against, with no abstentions.
Proposals to remove the text as submitted were introduced by Venko Sabrutev of Continue the Change (CC) and a group of MPs, Iskra Mihaylova of Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and a group of MPs, and Martin Dimitrov of Democratic Bulgaria (DB) and a group of MPs.
Angel Yanchev’s (Vazrazhdane) proposal calls for the dissolution not only of the Files Committee but also of a number of other committees in order to reduce costs.
Among the reasons for opposing the transfer of the Files Committee to the Archives State Agency, Sabrutev pointed out the risk of losing the collected archive or part of it, as well as the fact that there is no financial justification for how much the administration would save from the transfer.
Ayten Sabri of MRF noted that the transfer of the Files Committee’s large archival collection could restrict access to documents for a long period and require significant resources without a clear financial assessment.
Tsoncho Ganev of Vazrazhdane said that the party has put forward similar proposals over the years, and they would support the dissolution proposal. He added that the change was long overdue. “Given that we have the Archives Agency, which preserves Bulgaria’s living memory, and these files will be transferred there – they will not disappear, they will not be lost – a sham committee, serving no purpose whatsoever, that continues to spend approximately 6 million a year is sheer madness,” he said.
Martin Dimitrov of DB noted that the ongoing screening process that the Files Committee conducts on candidates for public office would cease if the establishment was relocated. He added that the current government has not yet passed the vetting process. Dimitrov said that it is important for the Committee to continue its work so that the public can be informed “who is who” in Bulgarian politics.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Galab Donev commented that he shares the concerns, but does not agree with the manipulative statements, since the transfer does not involve the actual closure of the Committee’s operations. “It will neither cease to function, nor will it not investigate the Council of Ministers membership for political affiliation,” Donev said. He added that not a single document will be lost, because the archive will remain at its current location.
Nine commissioners, along with some of the administrative staff, will be laid off as a result of the transfer and assumption of these functions by the Archives Agency administration, he further noted. The savings from relocating the Committee will amount to just under EUR 6 million, the Minister said. Budget Committee Approves Proposed Secret Police Files Committee Transfer to Archives State Agency 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-07-21 14:42:26 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law