Foreign Ministry and President distance themselves from sending convicted intelligence officer to Vienna

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and President Gordana Siljanovska–Davkova have both distanced themselves from the decision to send convicted intelligence officer Kiro Todorovski to Vienna as a representative of the Agency for Intelligence at the diplomatic-consular mission there, saying the Agency's director, Gabriela Jakovleva, selected him.

In a written statement the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade stressed that the procedure for seconding employees from other state bodies to diplomatic missions is regulated by the Law on Foreign Affairs and that the sending organisation — not the ministry — runs the internal competition and selection.

"The procedure for sending employees from other state bodies and bodies of state administration to diplomatic-consular missions is regulated by the Law on Foreign Affairs. According to the Law, for sending employees from another state body, the internal competition is announced by the body from which the employee comes, and the selection procedure is carried out by a five-member commission formed by the official who heads that body. Therefore, the Law clearly provides that the selection of the candidate is not carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, but by the competent body in which the person is employed," the ministry said.

President and agency: responsibility lies with the Agency for Intelligence

President Siljanovska–Davkova, responding separately, underlined that the Agency for Intelligence is an independent body of the state administration and that the decision on the candidate is signed by the agency director, Gabriela Jakovleva, while the minister issues the formal decision to second the employee.

Journalistic questions have focused on how Todorovski — despite a final guilty verdict in the "Titanik" case — passed the security vetting carried out by the Agency for National Security and received a security certificate from the Directorate for Security of Classified Information that allowed access to classified material, before being sent to Vienna. The Directorate replied, similarly to the Agency for National Security, that the register it keeps of processed requests and issued security certificates is marked "for restricted use" and is not available for free access.

So far there has been no official explanation or accountability for how Todorovski obtained the security clearance and was deployed abroad despite his conviction.

Photo: Макфакс