SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgaria’s Parliament approved a law yesterday to open up its Cold War files and unmask agents in the Balkan state’s communist-era secret services just weeks before it joins the European Union on January 1.

But analysts and opposition parties said last-minute changes reduced its scope to shine light on one of the Cold War’s most notorious spy networks and discern to what extent KGB-trained officers and their informants still hold influence.

The now-defunct Darzhavna Sigurnost was implicated in plots ranging from the failed assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II to the death of dissident Georgi Markov, stabbed with a poison-tipped umbrella on London’s Waterloo Bridge. Many Bulgarians also believe the network has not disbanded, and that agents have used bribes, blackmail and billions of euros spirited out of the Black Sea state in the last days of communism to wield influence behind the scenes.

In the 240-seat chamber, all but two of the 113 deputies present approved the law, which creates a parliament-elected commission to oversee opening the files.

“This law puts an end to 17 years of wrangling and prevents the undemocratic acts committed under communism from being repeated,” said Borislav Ralchev, a member of the commission.

Bulgarians will now have the right to see documents written about them by communist agents and informants. The commission will also investigate elected politicians, diplomats, judges, police and other leading public figures, and post the names of those discovered to be agents on the Internet.