Urzad Ochrony Panstwa

Urzad Ochrony Panstwa (UOP) (Office for State Protection) is the Polish intelligence agency. It was founded on April 6, 1990 as a department of the Ministry of the Interior. In 1996 it was tranformed into a separate government agency under the supervision of the Prime Minister. It is responsible for intelligence, counterintelligence and government electronic security.

The UOP replaced the communist-era Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa (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 Bezpieczenstwa 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.

External links:

• http://www.uop.gov.pl -- former official website, which redirects to:
• http://www.abw.gov.pl