The National Assembly elected Antoine Gechev for a second 5-year term as Chairman of the State Intelligence Agency. Only the deputies from the State Duma voted against the candidacy.
On July 2, Antoine Gechev was heard by the Commission for Control over the Security Services, the Application and Use of Special Intelligence Means and Access to Data under the Electronic Communications Act.
Antoine Gechev was born on September 13, 1969 in the city of Yambol. He completed his secondary education at the Technical School of Electronics and Automation “S. M. Kirov“ with the qualification of an electrician – operator of industrial robots and GAPS. He obtained his master's degrees in 1993 from the Higher Military University "Vasil Levski" in Veliko Tarnovo and in 1998 from the Military Academy "G. S. Rakovski" in Sofia. He also completed a strategic course with the qualification "Implementation of leadership activities in the national security and defense system" in 2018 at the Military Academy "G. S. Rakovski". He has also completed a number of specialized courses to improve his professional qualifications in intelligence and security in the USA, Israel, the Federal Republic of Germany, etc.
Gechev began his career as a reconnaissance platoon commander in a tank brigade, followed by an appointment as an operational analyst in an electronic intelligence brigade. In 1998, he began working in the "Military Information" service at the Ministry of Defense (currently the "Military Intelligence" service), where he successively held various positions, including Deputy Director of the Service. He has experience in the field of diplomacy and interaction with the special and intelligence services of partner countries and the relevant structures of NATO and the EU, acquired during his overseas mandates in the services of the military attaché in Greece, Great Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy.