ArmInfo. By decision of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Former Human Rights Defender of Armenia Kristine Grigoryan was appointed director of the newly formed Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS).
On January 23 this year Grigoryan submitted a resignation letter to the National Assembly in accordance with the law in connection with a transfer to another job. She served in office for a year and was appointed on January 24, 2022, after the end of the term of Arman Tatoyan, whom the authorities decided not to nominate for a second term. Then there were already rumors that Grigoryan would head the Foreign Intelligence Service, the formation of which was approved by the Armenian parliament on December 23, 2022.
According to the draft law "On the activities of foreign intelligence and the foreign intelligence service", the FIS will be under the direct authority of the country's prime minister. Then the head of the Armenian Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, reported in parliament that as part of the formation of the Foreign Intelligence Service, it was envisaged to form an external intelligence community.
Considering the fact that such departments are already operating in the Ministry of Defense and the National Security Service, which carry out military-intelligence activities, decision was made to establish a new type of activity that will not be considered military activities, which will give the FIS greater opportunities to involve into the new specialists in the body. This service will be more civil service in nature. The director of the Foreign Intelligence Service automatically becomes a member of the Security Council of Armenia. Armen Grigoryan also noted that one of the main goals of establishing the FIS will be to collect information on the situation around Armenia, including non-public information, on the basis of which an analysis of the security environment will be carried out, providing it to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. Appropriate decisions will be made based on the Service data. "An important place will be allocated to Artsakh in the security environment of Armenia," the Security Council Secretary noted.