Office of State Protection
Urząd Ochrony Państwa
UOP
Agency overview
Formed1990
Preceding
Dissolved2002
Superseding agencies
JurisdictionPoland
HeadquartersWarsaw
Agency executive
  • Andrzej Barcikowski
Parent agencyMinistry of Interior

The Office of State Protection (Polish: Urząd Ochrony Państwa (Polish pronunciation: [ˈuʐɔnt ɔˈxrɔnɨ ˈpaɲstfa], UOP)[1]) was the intelligence agency of Poland from 1990 to 2002, when it was split into two new agencies.

Foundation

The UOP was founded on 6 April 1990 as a department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Krzysztof Kozłowski served as the UOP's first chief from 1990 to 1992.[2] In 1996 UOP was transformed into a separate government agency under the supervision of the prime minister. It was responsible for intelligence, counter-intelligence and government electronic security, including telephone wiretaps.

Reasons for formation

The UOP replaced the communist-era Służba Bezpieczeństwa (SB), I Departament People's Republic of Poland Ministry of Internal Affairs – intelligence, II Departament People's Republic of Poland Ministry of Internal Affairs – counter-intelligence, whose responsibilities had additionally included the suppression of opposition to the government prior to 1989.

Agency split

In June 2002, the agency was split into two separate entities – Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego (Internal Security Agency), which deals with internal security of the country, and Agencja Wywiadu (Intelligence Agency), which deals with foreign intelligence.

Chiefs

  • Krzysztof Kozłowski (1990 – 1990)
  • Andrzej Milczanowski (1990 – 1992)
  • Piotr Naimski (1992)
  • Andrzej Milczanowski (1992)
  • Jerzy Konieczny (1992 – 1993)
  • Gromosław Czempiński (1993 – 1996)
  • Andrzej Kapkowski, p.o. szefa UOP (1996 – 1996)
  • Andrzej Kapkowski (1996 – 1997)
  • Jerzy Nóżka, p.o. szefa UOP (1997 – 1998)
  • Zbigniew Nowek (1998 – 2001)
  • Zbigniew Siemiątkowski, p.o. szefa UOP (2001 – 2002)
  • Andrzej Barcikowski (2002)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Słownik procedur parlamentarnych, Kancelaria Sejmu, ISBN 83-909381-0-3, p. 401
  2. ↑ "Krzysztof Kozłowski nie żyje. Rozwiązał służbę bezpieczeństwa, milicję zmienił w policję". Gazeta Wyborcza. 2013-03-26. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
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