Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego

Ogólne informacje

The Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego is Poland's domestic intelligence agency. The ABW is responsible for analyzing, reporting and preventing threats to Poland's internal security, including terrorism, foreign espionage, arms smuggling, drug trafficking, organized crime, corruption and economic coercion. Its powers include arresting individuals, conducting searches and investigations, and combating terrorism with a specialized armed anti-terrorist force.The ABW is headquartered on ul. Rakowiecka in the Mokotów district of Warsaw. As part of its institutional hierarchy, the Head of the ABW reports directly to the Prime Minister of Poland, who in turn provides oversight of the ABW, or can appoint a special minister to coordinate intelligence and security activities for oversight. The ABW is considered by the government of Poland as one of the nation's special services.HistoryThe ABW was created under the premiership of Leszek Miller on 24 May 2002, following the Council of Ministers' submission of its legislation on the Internal Security Agency and Foreign Intelligence Agency bill to the Sejm for approval. The legislation effectively split the previous national intelligence service, the Urząd Ochrony Państwa (UOP), into two separate components: the Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego (ABW), responsible for domestic intelligence operations, and the Agencja Wywiadu (AW), dedicated to gathering and analyzing foreign intelligence outside of Poland.