
The director of DBKI, whom VMRO-DPMNE accused of bribery, now defends Hristovski's NATO certificate
Slaveski was first appointed acting director of the Directorate in 2017, and the following year he was officially named director as a staff member of the LDP, which was part of the ruling SDSM-DUI coalition. Although the new government led by VMRO-DPMNE replaced all directors of the security services, Slaveski remained to lead the Directorate.
The Director of the Directorate for Security of Classified Information (DSCI), Stojan Slaveski, whom VMRO-DPMNE accused of taking bribes for issuing security certificates while in opposition, and the Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski from the parliamentary rostrum expressed doubts about the issuance of security certificates, now he is defending the NATO certificate of the director of the National Security Agency, Bojan Hristovski.
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The Directorate is, in fact, the main link in the process of issuing a security certificate and it guarantees the security checks that are carried out for a person, as well as for the director of the National Security Agency, who claimed in a statement to "Sloboden Pečat" that he personally did not participate in the verification process and that the Directorate is the institution that leads the process and issues the certificate.
– I inform you that I personally have not participated in any phase of the verification process. I would like to point out that NATO has received a positive opinion on the certificate that was issued to me by the indicated DBKI. This is a fact that can be verified – Hristovski told Sloboden Pechat when asked about the procedure for issuing the NATO certificate, given that the security checks are carried out by the NSA, i.e. the Agency where he is the director.
"Sloboden Pechat" tried several times to get in touch with the director of the Directorate to explain to us the procedure for issuing the NATO certificate for Director Hristovski, given that the same Directorate did not grant Hristovski a security certificate as a former counterintelligence officer when, with the reforms in the security sector, employees from the former UBK were transferring to the newly created ANB.
Slaveski ignored our calls and questions
Slaveski ignored all our calls and questions, but in a statement to TV Alfa he responsibly claimed that all legal prerequisites for issuing a national and NATO certificate have been met. There he explained the entire procedure for issuing a NATO certificate.
– Based on the security check conducted by the competent services, the Directorate determines whether there is a security risk and acts in accordance with the results obtained. If necessary, the Directorate may request the competent services to conduct additional checks and request access to the documents from the security check. After receiving the national certificate, the Directorate also issues a security certificate for access to NATO classified information. The Directorate issues a security certificate for access to NATO classified information, for which an additional security check is conducted by the competent NATO service. Then, the NATO Service submits the result of the check it has conducted to the Directorate, which may be positive or negative – Slaveski said in a statement for television.
Hristovski became the director of the NBA without the highest level of security clearance, "state secret," and claimed that his "state secret" clearance was not renewed in 2019 in what he called a politically engineered security crackdown involving senior UBK officials. On October 18, when Hristovski was appointed, he immediately began the process of issuing a national and NATO certificate, which he received in a snap.
Thus, Hristovski first lost it, and now he has received the certificate while Slaveski was at the head of the Directorate.
Slaveski was first appointed acting director of the Directorate in 2017, and the following year he was officially named director as a staff member of the Liberal Democratic Party, which was part of the ruling SDSM-DUI coalition. Although the new government led by VMRO-DPMNE replaced all directors of the security services, Slaveski remained to lead the Directorate.
Kovachki accused Slaveski of taking money for issuing certificates.
The current and former MP from the ranks of VMRO-DPMNE, Dragan Kovacki, in 2022, accused Slaveski of taking money, i.e. bribes, for issuing security certificates.
"He was charged with taking money to send people on a diplomatic mission to Brussels, as well as taking bribes to issue security certificates," MP and member of the Executive Committee of VMRO-DPMNE, Dragan Kovački, wrote a status on social networks. At that time, the Prosecutor's Office confirmed that Slaveski had been summoned as a witness in a procedure that was being conducted, unofficially after a report was filed that the procedure for issuing NATO security certificates had not been followed.
For Director Slaveski, these accusations were untrue, false and malicious.
– They were made solely for the purpose of damaging my reputation and honor, as well as misleading the public with false information, most likely in an attempt to score some political points with your voters and/or achieve some goals in your party circles – Slaveski claimed.
Now, when we asked the Prosecutor's Office whether there was any procedure in place to dispute the failure to obtain a security certificate, they replied that an appeal is being filed for this, and the Prosecutor's Office only acts upon suspicions of criminal acts.
– According to the Law on Classified Information (Article 57), a person whose request for issuing a security certificate has been rejected may file an appeal against such a decision with the State Commission for Decision-making in Administrative Procedures and Labor Procedures in Second Instance in Relation to the Procedure for Issuing a Security Certificate. The Public Prosecutor's Office acts only upon suspicions of committed criminal acts – the Prosecutor's Office told "Sloboden Pechat".
The procedure for issuing the NATO certificate was updated after Hristovski received a positive opinion for such a certificate, although his English language certificate, as well as his diploma for completed studies at the University of Skopje, were disputed.
After the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption determined that there was nothing controversial in his case, despite several complaints filed against Hristovski, the decision now remains for the Public Prosecutor's Office to make, which is awaiting information from Bulgaria, where the "Julia" Foreign Language Center was located, from which Hristovski received his English certificate.
– The Prosecutor's Office is conducting a pre-investigation procedure and is taking actions, including a request for international legal assistance from the Republic of Bulgaria. Following the letter of request, no response has yet been received from the Bulgarian competent authorities – the Prosecutor's Office says.
The issuance of security certificates has been followed by controversy for a long time regarding whether NATO performs additional checks or the certificate is issued based on checks conducted by the National Security Agency or the Ministry of Defense for military intelligence personnel.
According to the Law on Classified Information, at the request of the Directorate, operational checks for the existence of security obstacles for individuals and legal entities are carried out by the National Security Agency. A video, published on the Directorate's website, explains the entire procedure for obtaining a security and NATO certificate, but it does not state anywhere that NATO conducts additional checks, but that the security check is carried out by the appropriate competent security service.