Armenia to establish Foreign Intelligence Service

A Foreign Intelligence Service will be established in Armenia under the National Security Service (NSS).

A draft bill introducing the relevant amendments to the Law on National Security Bodies was approved on November 6 at a government meeting and will be submitted to parliament, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

The bill is proposed to be adopted in connection with the separation of the functions of the National Security Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service of Armenia.

According to the law, the country's foreign intelligence activities should be transferred to the latter, but foreign counterintelligence should remain within the structure of the NSDC. To this end, it became necessary to create a corresponding unit within the NSDC and to regulate its interaction with the Foreign Intelligence Service.

The new department’s responsibilities will also include ensuring the security of Armenian diplomatic missions abroad.

For the record, the Foreign Intelligence Service was separated from the NSS in December 2022, with Kristine Grigoryan, Armenia’s former Human Rights Defender, appointed as its head.

By Khagan Isayev