Activities Abroad
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
The State Commission on Information Security organizes, controls and is responsible for the fulfillment of obligations on classified information protection, arising from international treaties to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party.
Prior to the Classified Information Protection Act, the Republic of Bulgaria was a state-part to treaties on secret military information exchange with the USA, Romania and the Netherlands, and to an agreement on mutual protection of secret information with the Federal Republic of Germany.
After the CIPA came into force, an agreement on mutual protection of classified information was signed with the Republic of Latvia. Treaties for the protection of classified Information with Romania,Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Norway,the United Kingdom, Poland, Estonia and Turkey are in the process of being negotiated.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
The State Commission on Information Security as national information security authority of the Republic of Bulgaria, laid down the foundations of bilateral cooperation with the national security authorities of other countries. In a one-year period of its existence,the SCIS held meetings with representatives of the national security authorities of the Czech Republic, Poland, Norway and Netherlands.
Special features of national legislation relating to the procedures and criteria of personnel vetting for access to national and NATO classified information, as well as the training of the staff in the area of classified information protection were discussed. Since the public relations connected with classified information protection were introduced for the first time in Bulgarian legislation, the experience of Norway as long standing member of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization and of Poland and the Czech Republic as new members proved to be extremely beneficial in the process of its practical implementation. In the beginning of 2004 representatives of the newly founded security authority in NATO context of the Republic of Macedonia visited the Commission in order to exchange experience in the process of establishment of national system for classified information protection.
The participation of the SCIS in workshops and conferences organized by member states of NATO (the Czech Republic,Poland, Hungary, Great Britain and Norway) was an extremely beneficial form of partnership, aiming to harmonize the national legislation practices in the field of classified information protection. Members of the SCIS took part in the Conference on Vetting Procedure in London, Great Britain, in the discussions concerning the draft of Regulations on Cryptographic Security of Classified Information in Brussels, Belgium, in Workshops on INFOSEC in Prague, Czech Republic and in Budapest, Hungary. Participants of the SCIS attended a Workshop on Cyber Security and Contingency Planning in Zurich, Switzerland and NATO Regional Conference on Military Communications and Information Systems in Zegrze, Poland.
The chairperson of the SCIS Mrs. Tsveta Markova was invited by the National Security Authority of Norway to take part in a coordination meeting for establishment of cooperation in the field of classified information industrial security. The SCIS attended working meetings on different aspects of information protection, organized by the National Security Authority of the Czech Republic.
In connection with the forthcoming membership of Bulgaria in NATO the participation of SCIS representative at the Conference “NATO Integration - Significant Elements and Learned Lessons” in Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Germany in October 2003 was of great importance.
For the first time the Republic of Bulgaria (respectively the SCIS, the Ministry of Defence and the Security Service - Military Police and Military Counterintelligence) was invited to participate in the regular meeting of the working group on industrial security (MISWG) in Portugal.
The Commission took active part in the conference of Southeastern Europe “Regional Security Through Data Protection” in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.
BILATERAL AGREEMENTS IN THE FIELD OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION PROTECTION BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA AND OTHER COUNTRIES OR INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
1. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Government of the Republic of Latvia on the Mutual Protection of Classified Information, signed on 5th July 2002 in Riga.
2. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Government of the United States of America Concerning the Protection of Classified Military Information, signed on 29th October 1999 in Sofia.
3. Agreement between the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands on the Protection of Secret Military Information, signed on 14th January 1998 in Sofia.
4. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Government of Romania on the Protection of Exchanged Classified Military Information, signed on 29th March 2000 in Sofia.
5. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany on the Mutual Protection of Secret Information, signed on 1st February 1995 in Sofia.
6. Security Agreement between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Western European Union, signed on 7th April 1997 in Brussels.
7. Security Agreement between the Republic of Bulgaria and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, signed on 2nd November 1994 in Brussels.
8. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria on the Exchange and Mutual Protection of Defence Classified Information, signed on 17th May 2004 in Sofia.
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