View source for Committee for State Security (Bulgaria)

{{Short description|Bulgarian secret service under the People's Republic of Bulgaria during the Cold War}}
{{for|the Soviet Committee for State Security|KGB}}
{{Expand Bulgarian|Държавна сигурност|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox Government agency
| agency_name     = Committee for State Security
| nativename      = Държавна сигурност (Durzhavna Sigurnost)
| image           = DANS building.jpg
| image_caption         = The State Security building on Cherni Vrah Boulevard in Sofia
| motto           = 
| seal            =Почетен знак на КДС 01.jpg
| seal_width      = 150px
| seal_caption    = Honor badge of the CSS with the first logo of the agency (1963–1965)
| flag            = 
| formed          = 1925
| dissolved       = 1990
| preceding1      =
| superseding1     =  [[State Agency for National Security|DANS]]
| superseding2     =   [[National Intelligence Service (Bulgaria)|SIA]] 
| jurisdiction    = 
| headquarters    = [[Sofia]]
| coordinates     = 
| minister1_name  = 
| minister1_pfo   = 
| minister2_name  = 
| minister2_pfo   = 
| chief1_name     = 
| chief1_position = 
| parent_agency   = 
| child1_agency   = 
| child2_agency   = 
| child3_agency   = 
| child4_agency   = 
| website         = 
| footnotes       = 
}}
'''State Security''' (Държавна сигурност, ''Darzhavna sigurnost''; abbreviated ДС, DS) was the name of the [[Bulgaria]]n [[secret service]] under the [[People's Republic of Bulgaria]] during the [[Cold War]], until 1989. State Security was closely allied with its Soviet counterpart, the [[KGB]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nehring|first=Christopher|date=2021|title=Active and Sharp Measures: Cooperation between the Soviet KGB and Bulgarian State Security|url=https://direct.mit.edu/jcws/article/23/4/3/107902/Active-and-Sharp-MeasuresCooperation-between-the|journal=Journal of Cold War Studies|language=en|volume=23|issue=4|pages=3–33|doi=10.1162/jcws_a_01038|s2cid=241566348|issn=1520-3972|doi-access=free  |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221201050727/https://direct.mit.edu/jcws/article/23/4/3/107902/Active-and-Sharp-MeasuresCooperation-between-the |archive-date= Dec 1, 2022 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Structure==
* 1st Main Directorate{{spaced ndash}}foreign intelligence. Succeeded by the [[National Intelligence Service (Bulgaria)|National Intelligence Service]] in 1990.
* 2nd Main Directorate{{spaced ndash}}[[counterintelligence]]. Succeeded by the [[State Agency for National Security|National Security Service]].
* 3rd Directorate{{spaced ndash}}military counterintelligence
* 4th Directorate{{spaced ndash}}[[surveillance]]
* 5th Directorate{{spaced ndash}}government security and protection. Succeeded by the [[National Protection Service]].
* 6th Directorate{{spaced ndash}}[[Secret police|political police]]. Succeeded by the [[Main Service for Combating Organized Crime]]. It had the following departments:
** 1st Department{{spaced ndash}}worked among the [[intelligentsia]] and controlling the unions of artists
** 2nd Department{{spaced ndash}}worked in the universities and among the students
** 3rd Department{{spaced ndash}}responsible for the [[clergy]], [[History of the Jews in Bulgaria|Jews]], [[Armenians in Bulgaria|Armenians]], and [[White movement|White Russian emigrants]]
** 4th Department{{spaced ndash}}specialized in pro-[[Turkey|Turkish]] and [[Macedonian nationalism#Macedonism|pro-Macedonian]] [[nationalism]]
** 5th Department{{spaced ndash}}worked among the political rivals, such as the [[Agrarianism|agrarians]] and [[Social democracy|social democrats]]
** 6th Department{{spaced ndash}}observed pro-[[Maoist]] and anti-party activity
** 7th Department{{spaced ndash}}information analysis and anonymous activity
* 7th Directorate{{spaced ndash}}information work

==Activity==
In 1964, the State Security formed Service 7, led by Colonel Petko Kovachev, dedicated to murder, kidnapping, and disinformation against Bulgarian dissidents living abroad. The unit executed actions against dissidents in Italy, Britain, Denmark, West Germany, Turkey, France, Ethiopia, Sweden, and Switzerland. Documents describing its activities were declassified in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://waz.euobserver.com/887/30560 |title=Bulgaria's 'murder bureau' targetted emigre dissidents |first1=Alexenia |last1=Dimitrova |date=July 30, 2010 |website=waz.euobserver.com |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804210937/http://waz.euobserver.com/887/30560 |archive-date=4 August 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

State Security played an active part in the so-called "[[Revival Process]]" to [[Bulgarianization|Bulgarianize]] the [[Bulgarian Turks]] in the 1980s, as well as writer and dissident [[Georgi Markov]]'s 1978 murder on [[Waterloo Bridge]] in [[London]] known for the "[[Bulgarian umbrella]]" that was used.

An issue the international community often raises is State Security's alleged control of the weapons, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, gold, silver, and antiques trafficked through Bulgaria before 1989.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} It is popularly thought that [[organised crime]] in the country in the 1990s was set up by former State Security agents.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.podpiski.org/?petitions:openarchives:sign |title=Отваряне на архива на ДС - писмо до Оли Рен |website=podpiski |date=2006 |access-date=2006-08-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214100337/http://www.podpiski.org/?petitions:openarchives:sign |archive-date= Feb 14, 2007 }}</ref>

The agency is often incriminated with the ill-famed murder of dissident writer [[Georgi Markov]] and was formerly accused of the 1981 attempt on [[Pope John Paul II]]'s life. Bulgaria has always sharply criticized and denied the latter allegation. In a 2002 visit, the Pontiff cleared Bulgaria of any involvement.

In 2018, declassified documents of the [[Bulgarian Communist Party|Communist Party]] revealed a plan to foment crisis between [[Turkey]] and [[Greece]] in 1971. The operation codenamed "Cross" and the plan was that Bulgarian secret agents would set fire to the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] in [[Istanbul]] and make it look like the work of Turks. The declassified documents state that "An intervention" in the religious entity would have "significantly damage[d] Turkish-Greek relations and force[d] the [[United States]] to choose one side in the ensuing crisis,". In addition, the Bulgarians also planned to boost the effect of its operation against Greece and Turkey by conducting "[[active measures]]" "for putting the enemy in a position of delusion." The plan was developed by the 7th Department of the First Main Directorate of the DS, and was affirmed by Deputy Head of the Directorate on November 16, 1970, and approved by its Head. The operation was supposed to be prepared by the middle of 1971 and then executed, but it was abandoned.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dikov |first=Ivan |date=2018-02-28 |title=Communist Bulgaria's Intelligence Plotted Greece – Turkey Conflict by Setting on Fire Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Secret Files Reveal |url=http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2018/02/28/communist-bulgarias-intelligence-plotted-greece-turkey-conflict-setting-fire-ecumenical-patriarchate-constantinople-secret-files-reveal/ |website=Archaeology in Bulgaria. and Beyond |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201165712/http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2018/02/28/communist-bulgarias-intelligence-plotted-greece-turkey-conflict-setting-fire-ecumenical-patriarchate-constantinople-secret-files-reveal/ |archive-date= Dec 1, 2022 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/2018/02/22/report-communist-era-bulgaria-plotted-to-burn-greek-patriarchate Report: Communist-era Bulgaria plotted to burn Greek patriarchate]</ref>

== Legacy ==
The secret files of the DS have been a source of great controversy in the country. After the communist regime in the country collapsed, newly established democratic forces accused the former communist elite of secretly removing DS files that could compromise its members. In 2002, former Interior Minister Gen. [[Atanas Semerdzhiev]] was found guilty of razing 144,235 files from the DS archives. Others have accused the DS of infiltrating the young opposition.

On 5 April 2007 [[Parliament of Bulgaria|Bulgarian parliament]] appointed a special ''Committee for disclosing the documents and announcing affiliation of Bulgarian citizens to the State Security and the intelligence services of the Bulgarian National Army'' (or ComDos). It began checking persons who once held or still hold public positions to establish any affiliation. Regular reports are delivered to the parliament and all disclosures are made public on the Committee website and in special publications.<ref>[https://www.comdos.bg/%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B8_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4_%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE_%D1%81%D1%8A%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5 Reports (in Bulgarian)]</ref>

== See also ==
* [[The Executioner (Kisyov novel)|''The Executioner'' (Kisyov novel)]]
* [[Bulgarian umbrella]]
*[[Eastern Bloc politics]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* [https://www.reuters.com/article/world/uproar-in-bulgaria-at-death-of-secret-files-keeper-idUSL17703886/ "Uproar in Bulgaria at death of secret files keeper"], [[Reuters]]
* [https://balkaninsight.com/2007/12/10/bulgarians-agree-to-open-secret-service-archives/ "Bulgarians Agree to Open Secret Service Archives"] {{subscription}}, [[Balkan Investigative Reporting Network]]

{{Secret police of Communist Europe}}

[[Category:Bulgarian intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Counterterrorism]]
[[Category:Defunct intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Eastern Bloc intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:History of the Bulgarian Communist Party]]
[[Category:Law enforcement in communist states]]
[[Category:People's Republic of Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Secret police]]