On December 8, at a regular Cabinet meeting, the executive approved the bill “On Foreign Intelligence Activity and Foreign Intelligence Service.”

According to the Deputy Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan, the bill proposes to create a new Foreign Intelligence Service - a subordinate body to the Prime Minister. 

“Given that the Defense Ministry and the National Security Service have agencies with similar functions in which the service is military, a political decision was made to create a new type of state service. Creating the Foreign Intelligence Service will contribute to raising the functional efficiency of the National Security Service, focusing on the directions of counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism. It will also allow responding to global and regional challenges more flexibly and adequately,” he said. 

PM Nikol Pashinyan, in his turn, mentioned that amidst the major dynamic changes in the foreign intelligence forms and methods, there is an urgent need for Armenia to transform and develop its capacities according to the contemporary challenges and demands. 

“Nothing will change in all the intelligence services currently operating until we are convinced that the newly created foreign intelligence service can absorb the functions currently performed by the National Security Service's Intelligence Department,” Pashinyan said. 

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