Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said on April 23 that Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security (SANS) and Interior Ministry should work in close co-operation for common goals.

SANS went into operation in January 2008 in terms of an act of Parliament that was the brainchild of Stanishev, part of a response to serious issues facing Bulgaria including organised crime and a measure against terrorism. Other state law enforcement institutions were restructured when SANS was formed, and previous media reports implied that there was jealousy towards the new agency.

Speaking at the opening of SANS new headquarters in central Sofia, Stanishev said that Bulgaria's accession to the European Union "implies new, very high requirements for all institutions, including in the fight against organized crime and corruption, and for the common principle to live by unified rules valid for all".

The times had showed the need to set up an agency to bear serious responsibility for national security, Stanishev said.

He said that at the beginning there had been many skeptics and opponents who had criticised the idea of setting up such an agency.

The first step - putting in place the structures and management of SANS - had been implemented on time, Stanishev said. He urged the agency to justify the public confidence placed in it. The agency had the support of the Government to do its job well, objectively and impartially, Stanishev said.

SANS chief Petko Sertov, also at the opening ceremony, said that the agency should meet public expectations. The office building had been built according to the highest standards of a security service of an EU member state, he said. SANS is an integrated security system ready to meet the challenges facing Bulgaria's national security, Sertov said.