Urząd Ochrony Państwa

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Urząd Ochrony Państwa (UOP) (Office for State Protection) was the intelligence agency of Poland. It was founded on April 6, 1990, as a department of the Ministry of the Interior. In 1996 it was transformed into a separate government agency under the supervision of the Prime Minister. It is responsible for intelligence, counterintelligence and government electronic security, including telephone wiretaps.

The UOP replaced the communist-era Służba Bezpieczeństwa (SB), whose responsibilities had additionally included the suppression of opposition to the government prior to 1989.

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

[edit] External links

• http://www.uop.gov.pl -- former official website, which redirects to:
• http://www.abw.gov.pl
• Oil Secrets of Polish Intelligence