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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.
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