Bulgaria's prime minister called for amendments to the Classified Information Protection Act to allow access to the records of the former State Security Service, following the example of Germany.

The Classified Information Protection Act, which was passed in 2002 and went into force the same year, regulates state and official secrets and establishes a Commission on the Security of Information. The law abolished the 1997 Access to Documents of the Former State Security Service Act regulating the access, proceedings of disclosure and use of information kept in the documents of the former State Security Service.

Many things have underwent evolution since the adoption of the act two years ago, Simeon Saxe-Coburg said, taking up a question by former prime minister and head of the newly minted right-wing Democrats for Strong Bulgaria Ivan Kostov.

Saxe-Coburg underlined that the Cabinet has already declassified ninety percent of the secret documents, while the Commission on the Security of Information has issued strict rules for the law implementation.

Ivan Kostov accused the government of breaching the act, according to which documents signed highly confidential must be submitted to the public State Archive a year after the protection term expires.

Parliamentary speaker Ognyan Gerdzhikov supported the proposal, saying it's high time for the records to be declassified fifteen years after the collapse of the communist regime.

The move would not threaten Bulgaria's national security, he said.

Saxe-Coburg's readiness to make the documents public received a lukewarm welcome by the right-wing opposition, who called it blatant electioneering.

The ruling Simeon II National Movement, headed by Prime Minister Saxe-Coburg, swept to power in the national elections of 2001, breaking the mould of two-party politics.

Opinion polls however show that the Bulgarian Socialist Party enjoys increasing chances of returning to power in 2005.

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