Ties To Communist Secret Service ... Bulgaria Explores Officials' - Cities

Bulgaria Explores Officials' Ties to Communist Secret Service ...


A wide variety of reasons come into play -- the inability of historians to analyze the communist period objectively, low education levels among the population and the dependence of people's career success on the system are just a few. All across Central and Eastern Europe, the younger generation hasn't shown much interest in digging up their country's communist past. An investigative committee commissioned by parliament examined 673 government officials who had served since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1990 and found that 108 were linked to communist intelligence. Bulgaria became a member of the European Union on Jan. But Bulgarians aren't interested in hearing about their politicians' pasts.The head of the government, four vice-premiers and 25 democratically elected ministers are among those with a connection to the secret service. Communist East Germany's last secret police chief March Wolf wrote that, in the 1950s, his Bulgarian and Polish counterparts were known for having committed the most murders. Current President Georgi Parvanov worked under the code name Gotse; his predecessor Jean Videnov was also a special agent. Former spies are especially prevalent in the foreign ministry and in diplomatic service. Nevertheless, public curiosity around the topic isn't particularly strong in Bulgaria. Not to mention that Bulgaria's foreign intelligence was also involved in operations where blood was spilled. Older generations also tend to be skeptical of opening the secret files. Please include your name and country in your reply. Political ideology was their main motivation, both in East and West Germany. Some of them are afraid that the skeletons in their closets will be exposed. The Czech Republic was nominated as the leader of the pack. The entire Soviet bloc was based on a foundation of unofficial informants, which means that plenty of ordinary citizens turned in information about friends, neighbors or acquaintances. The secret service was, for example, not subject to the judicial system but was run directly by the communist party.Furthermore, the fact that the Bulgarian secret police effectively functioned as an arm of Russia's KGB undermined the country's raison d'etat. They are free to continue working in politics. This type of violence is an assault on human dignity, Nooke said in an interview with Deutsche Welle. Three former ministers, 13 deputies and even Bulgaria's current NATO ambassador were all part of the communist intelligence cadre. Top-ranking Bulgarian politicians' contacts to the KGB are seen in Brussels as a potential security risk, particularly when sensitive topics like EU and NATO are on the table.