The draft law to abolish the body coordinating the security services passed through the relevant parliamentary committee and was referred for a first reading. During the review, the ruling majority and opposition clashed over their views on the issue.
According to the parliamentary majority, the law is hindering the efficient functioning of state security. The rationale sent to Parliament by Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski also mentions a lack of trust between institutions. The Ministry of Interior says the law’s implementation has been limited in practice because of institutional mistrust, an overly narrow scope and a lack of operational capacity.
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The opposition has described this finding as scandalous. It says that if institutions do not trust one another and their work produces no results, the solution is resignation, not a change to the law.
For two years, discussions have been underway on how to merge the security services into a single body. The plan envisages merging the National Security Agency, the Intelligence Agency and the Military Security and Intelligence Service into one body. It has not yet been decided whether the Directorate for Classified Information will also be included.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski has said several times that the services should be merged. According to him, the concept will be developed away from public scrutiny, followed by a public debate with experts in the field. In public appearances, experts have said that the idea of appointing the director from outside the agency runs counter to EU and NATO standards; they say it concentrates power in the hands of the authorities and creates opportunities for abuse.
Unofficially, the new amendments are expected to restore police powers to operational agents, which were taken away in 2019, when the former State Security and Counterintelligence Directorate was transformed into the National Security Agency. The powers of diplomatic missions and their special envoys to gather information as part of diplomatic activity are also expected to be defined, and a new Security Training Centre is to be established.
Currently, the National Security Agency falls under the authority of the Government, the Intelligence Agency under the authority of the president, and the Military Security and Intelligence Service under the authority of the General Staff. This also includes the NATO Operations Sector, established in April 2020.
