Office of State Protection

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.

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

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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