The Foreign Intelligence Service (Armenian: Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Արտաքին Հետախուզության Ծառայություն, Romanization: Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan Artak’in Hetakhuzut’yan Tsarrayut’yunp, FIS) is Armenia's primary external intelligence agency. A mostly civilian agency, the FIS falls under the direct supervision of the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia.[1]
History
In late 2022, the National Assembly of Armenia announced the intent to create a foreign intelligence service, based on assets within the National Security Service (the NSS's Intelligence Department) and the Armed Forces of Armenia.[2][3]Armen Grigorian, the secretary of the Security Council, announced it will be tasked with “collecting information about the security situation around Armenia.”[2] Opposition lawmakers criticized the government, with Gegham Manukian of the opposition Hayastan bloc sayin that it will "only weaken the existing structures within the NSS and the Defense Ministry.”[3] In October 2023, Kristine Grigoryan, a former Human Rights Ombudsman, was appointed as the FIS's first director.[4][5]
