Lower house committee approves re-appointment of Michal Koudelka as head of BIS

The Security Committee of the Lower House of Parliament on Thursday discussed the proposal to re-appoint Michal Koudelka head of the counter-intelligence Security Information Service (BIS). A resolution allowing the government to appoint Mr Koudelka was approved by 11 out of 12 MPs present.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala  expects the government to appoint Mr Koudelka at its next meeting. Michal Koudelka’s term as director of the counterintelligence service expired last August and under pressure from his long-term critic President Miloš Zeman, the former government headed by Andrej Babiš named him acting head of the BIS, leaving it to the next government to fill the post on a permanent basis.