State Protection to be Allocated Only to the President, Prime Minister, and Speaker of Parliament: Bill

The National Security Service (NSS) will become an agency subordinate to the Prime Minister. Discussions have begun in the National Assembly regarding a draft presented by the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan.

The head of the National Security Service will be appointed by the Prime Minister, while the Deputy, holding a military position, will be appointed by the President of Armenia. “I do not think there will be any crisis here, because it will be a coherent system in terms of functionality, and within this logic, there is no problem,” emphasized the Security Council Secretary.

Previously, the President was granted lifelong state protection; now, this protection will be granted for 7 years after leaving office for the President, and for 10 years in the case of the Prime Minister. Grigoryan explained that this matter had been the subject of lengthy discussions regarding why 7 and 10 years are designated.

“We have tried to make a reasonably balanced decision. This can be discussed endlessly, but a final decision had to be made to find a conclusive solution,” he highlighted.

According to the new law, state protection will be allocated only to three officials: the President, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of the National Assembly. However, Armen Grigoryan stated that, depending on the situation, there might be a necessity to allocate state protection to other officials as well, but that will be determined solely by the Prime Minister.