Bulgaria approves spy tech sales to UAE amid rights crackdown

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Bulgaria approves spy tech sales to UAE despite dissent crackdown: HRW

June 22, 2026

BRUSSELS – Bulgarian officials greenlit the sale of sophisticated surveillance equipment to the United Arab Emirates, a nation with a well-documented history of using spy technology to silence critics, as part of a broader pattern of exports to at least 15 countries with troubling human rights records, according to documents reviewed by Human Rights Watch.

The UAE, which maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward government criticism, has long used invasive surveillance tools to monitor journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens.

Authorities there have been known to track messages, emails, and mobile devices both inside the country and across borders. The Bulgarian-approved technology would give them even more powerful capabilities.

The licenses, issued between 2018 and 2023, allowed a Bulgarian-based surveillance company called Circles to legally export phone interception systems, monitoring software, and location-tracking tools to the UAE and other nations where governments have repeatedly used similar technology to repress dissent.

Tech That Can Track Anyone, Anywhere

The surveillance equipment approved for export includes:

• “Landmark” software, which tracks mobile phone locations for intelligence-gathering operations
• “VOLE”, which intercepts incoming and outgoing phone calls while capturing location data
• “Saphire”, which allows targeted interception of communications
• “Pixcell”, portable devices that capture calls, messages, and internet data from specific phones

These tools most likely rely on known flaws in international telephone infrastructure, allowing governments to intercept communications without phone companies even knowing, according to digital security experts who studied Circles’ products.

Beyond the UAE: A Long List of Concern

While the UAE stands out for its aggressive surveillance practices, Bulgaria approved exports to numerous other countries with poor human rights records, including:

• Azerbaijan, where authorities regularly carry out arbitrary arrests of activists, journalists, and human rights defenders
• Bahrain, where similar technology has been used to target civil society members
• Mexico and El Salvador, where governments have used spyware against journalists
• Morocco, with documented cases of surveillance targeting reporters and activists
• Israel and Jordan, where authorities have been found using comparable tools against critics
• Guatemala, Serbia, Malaysia, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, and Brazil

The documents describe licenses for exports to intelligence services, military units, police forces, regional governments, and private companies across these nations.

What the Law Requires

European Union rules require member states to consider human rights risks before approving surveillance exports. Governments are supposed to deny licenses when there’s a clear danger the technology will be used for “internal repression.”

Human Rights Watch says Bulgaria and other EU nations aren’t following those rules.

“All EU governments should be clamping down on exports of tools that can be used for repression, not rubber-stamping them,” said Zach Campbell, a senior researcher with the organization.

Circles has connections to other controversial surveillance firms. One of its founders, Tal Dillian, also helped start Intellexa, a Greek spyware company. A Greek court recently found Dillian guilty in connection with spyware used to surveil journalists, politicians, and businesspeople in Greece. He has said he plans to appeal.

The U.S. government sanctioned Dillian in 2024 for his role in “developing, operating and distributing commercial spyware technology” used against journalists, dissidents, policy experts, and U.S. officials.

Circles was bought in 2014 by a company that also owns NSO Group, the Israeli firm famous for its Pegasus spyware. The Bulgarian documents also show approved exports directly to NSO Group.

When asked about the licenses, Bulgaria’s Minister of Economy and Industry said the country maintains “a consistent policy of zero tolerance for abuses” and doesn’t allow exports that conflict with human rights commitments.

The European Commission, which oversees implementation of EU export rules, said individual member states are solely responsible for their licensing decisions.

Human Rights Watch repeatedly contacted Circles for comment but received no response. The documents’ authenticity was verified through metadata checks and export code cross-referencing with information provided by the Bulgarian government.

“The Bulgarian government and the European Commission both have a clear responsibility and a legal mandate to control these exports,” Campbell said, “and are failing to do so.”

This latest disclosure follows a broader Human Rights Watch report released last month, which documented that European Union nations have kept shipping surveillance equipment to rights-abusing countries in spite of current regulations.

(With files from Human Rights Watch hrw.org)