National Security Service (Armenia)

The National Security Service (NSS) (Armenian: Հայաստանի Ազգային Անվտանգության Ծառայություն, romanized: Hayastani Azgayin Anvtangut’yan Tsarrayut’yun) is the outgoing security service of Armenia, responsible for national security and intelligence matters. The service is also responsible for the Armenian Border Guard. The NSS is being replaced by the civilian-run Foreign Intelligence Service, established in 2023. The NSS, the direct successor of the Soviet KGB of the Armenian SSR, was once responsible for all domestic and foreign intelligence and counterintelligence affairs, as well as the security detail for the Prime Minister of Armenia. Now, it has lost those missions, in part because of a perception within Armenian government that the agency maintains its own interests and alliances inconsistent with national interests. It is expected to be entirely dissolved within three years. The NSS is currently headquartered on Nalbandyan Street in the Kentron district of downtown Yerevan.