Government agencies employ people without thorough security checks despite access to classified documents.
Limited Security Checks for High-Ranking Positions
Applicants for work at the Internal Security Agency or Military Counterintelligence Service are being thoroughly checked. However, people from competitions end up in the Prime Minister’s office and ministries, and employment in higher positions in the civil service takes place through day-to-day appointments.
According to findings from DGP, a significant portion of the approximately 3,500 directors in the entire government administration do not have a security clearance. And if they do have one, it’s usually the lowest, covering classified documents.
Officials Resist Verification Procedures
Not only directors but also ordinary civil servants are refusing to undergo the checking procedure. Trade unions admit that spies can be anywhere – and not necessarily in official positions with access to secret documents.
“Having access to confidential documents means that I, not my colleague, have to go to a secret office, collect a letter and then write it on a special computer behind glass and with the internet disconnected in the presence of a uniformed service employee. I won’t even mention filling out a pile of documents and answering additional questions from the verifying authority,” explains an official from one of the ministries.
