The Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego (ABW), officially the Internal Security Agency (ISA) in English, is Poland's domestic counter-intelligence agency. The ABW is responsible for analyzing, reporting and preventing threats to Poland's

internal security Internal security is the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other self-governing territories, generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats. Responsibility for internal secu ...

, including

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, foreign

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

arms smuggling Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small arm ...

, drug trafficking,

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

, 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 Mokotów , is a ''dzielnica'' (borough, district) of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Mokotów is densely populated, and is a seat to many foreign embassies and companies. Only a small part of the district is lightly industrialised ('' Służewiec ...

district of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. As part of its institutional hierarchy, the Head of the ABW reports directly to the

Prime Minister of Poland The President of the Council of Ministers ( pl, Prezes Rady Ministrów, lit=Chairman of the Council of Ministers), colloquially referred to as the prime minister (), is the head of the cabinet and the head of government of Poland. The responsibi ...

, 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 The Government of Poland takes the form of a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. However, its form of government has also been iden ...

to be one of the nation's special services.

History

The ABW was created under the premiership of

Leszek Miller Leszek Cezary Miller (Polish pronunciation: ; born 3 July 1946) is a Polish politician. He has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since July 2019. From 1989 to 1990 was a member of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' P ...

on 24 May 2002, following the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

' submission of its legislation on the Internal Security Agency and Foreign Intelligence Agency bill to the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

for approval. The legislation effectively split the previous national

intelligence service An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informatio ...

, the

Urząd Ochrony Państwa The Office of State Protection ( Polish: ''Urząd Ochrony Państwa'' (, UOP)Agencja Wywiadu (AW), dedicated to gathering and analyzing foreign intelligence outside of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Mission and operations

In accordance to Article 5 of the 2002 Internal Security Agency and Foreign Intelligence Agency Law, the ABW is tasked to protect Polish citizens, property and the state in a number of fields. These operations include domestic

counter-intelligence Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...

activities, ensuring

economic security Economic security or financial security is the condition of having stable income or other resources to support a standard of living now and in the foreseeable future. It includes: * probable continued solvency * predictability of the future cash ...

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

and weapons proliferation, combating

, securing state

classified information Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to kn ...

, and protecting Polish cyberspace operations. According to law, ABW investigations must be preceded by a warrant issued from a

regional court In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

after a submitted request from the ABW's Head. The ABW works closely with other security apparatuses in counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism operations to pool data, including the Agencja Wywiadu, the

Policja Policja () is the generic name for the national police force of the Republic of Poland. The Polish police force was known as ''policja'' throughout the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939), and in the modern Republic of Poland since 1990. Its cur ...

, the Straż Graniczna and the Biuro Ochrony Rządu. The ABW also monitors corruption among state agencies and officials. According to its 2009 report, the ABW monitored 82 state enterprises undergoing

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

, as well as monitored the flow of

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

funds to Polish coffers. Ministries of state have been subject to investigations from the ABW for financial irregularities, including the ministries for Finance, National Defence, Environment,

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

, Interior and Administration, and

GDDKiA The General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways ( pl, Generalna Dyrekcja Dróg Krajowych i Autostrad, GDDKiA) is the central authority of national administration set up to manage the national roads and implementation of the state budget i ...

. Among the agency's powers, the ABW reserves the right to arrest individuals, search individuals and premises, inspect cargo from land, water and air transport, and request assistance from other Polish security services and government bodies. The ABW's central operations center is located in the

borough of

along ul. Rakowiecka, standing in close proximity to

Mokotów Prison Mokotów Prison ( pl, Więzienie mokotowskie, also known as ''Rakowiecka Prison'') is a prison in Warsaw's borough of Mokotów, Poland, located at 37 Rakowiecka Street. It was built by the Russians in the final years of the foreign Partitions of ...

and the Ministry of Interior and Administration. The agency's training center is located in the village of Emów, east of

Masovian Voivodeship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. Th ...

. The ABW maintains offices in nearly all of Poland's major cities, including Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Katowice,

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, Lublin,

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

, Opole,

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975� ...

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ; la, Resovia; yi, ריישא ''Raisha'')) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów has been the capital of the Subcarpathian ...

, Szczecin,

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

and

Zielona Góra Zielona Góra is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (2021). Zielona Góra has a favourable geographical position, being close to the Polish-German border and on several international road ...

. Additionally, the ABW maintains international liaison offices within Polish diplomatic missions in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. Internationally, the ABW works closely with the intelligence and security agencies of fellow

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and

member states, as well as outside states including

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. The ABW also worked closely with the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukrainian ...

in preparation for the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

over the coordination of security plans.

Oversight

The activities of the ABW, along with the other special services (including the AW and the CBA) are provided oversight by the

directly, or through a specially appointed minister working within the Chancellery. The Head of the ABW reports to the prime minister regarding security matters of concern. The prime minister also retains the right to propose candidates to lead the ABW; nominated individuals are then subject to the opinion of the

President of Poland The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Pola ...

. The president also reserves the right to receive information from the ABW Head regarding security concerns. A Committee of Special Services under the

within the Chancellery retains responsibility of planning, coordinating and overseeing the activities of the ABW and all other special services. The agency's legal activities are tied to the Public Prosecutor General, who is regularly informed by the ABW's Head of the agency's course of actions. Additionally, the Special Services Committee within the

evaluates the performance of the agency, giving opinion to budgetary concerns, investigations and cooperation among the special services.

Controversies

In the aftermath of the

2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft operating Polish Air Force Flight 101 crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing all 96 people on board. Among the victims were the president of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, and his wife, Maria, ...

, killing President

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he pre ...

and other senior members of the armed forces and government, members of the Law and Justice party alleged that leaked memos showed the agency had spied on the late president and First Lady Maria Kaczyńska during a state visit to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in 2008. In May 2011, the ABW conducted a dawn raid on the home of the owner of AntyKomor.pl, a satirical website critical of Polish president

Bronisław Komorowski Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercis ...

, citing that the website was in breach of Article 135 of the

Polish Penal Code ''Kodeks Karny'' is Poland's criminal-law code. The name is often abbreviated ''KK''. Modern Polish legal history has seen the introduction of three penal codes: in 1932; in 1969, during the communist era; and in 1997. The last of those has been ...

for insulting the president. In response to opposition allegations of stifling free speech, Prime Minister

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic ...

stated afterwards that the agency was a victim of the penal code's legal vagueness. Later, Prime Minister Tusk criticized the agency for acting "overzealous." Marcin Idzik, who served as the CEO in the years 2013-2015 of the state-owned arms firm Bumar (since renamed as ''Polski Holding Obronny''-Polish Defense Holding) has alleged that in 2013 he asked for an investigation by the ABW of a former Bumar sales agent

Pierre Dadak Pierre Konrad Dadak (born 1976) is a Franco-Polish fraudster and confirmed arms dealer. He was convicted of fraud in France on 29 October 2010 and in Spain on 25 February 2022. Early life Dadak was born in Paris in 1976 to Polish immigrants. He h ...

on the suspicions of fraud. Dadak has been very closely associated with Krzysztof Wegrzyn, a wealthy businessman and former deputy defense minister, generally regarded as a member of the elite. Idzik claims that the ABW were unwilling to investigate Dadak, leading him to say: "I was the chief of the biggest Polish defense company and somebody wheedled money. For me, s itstrange? Yeah, 400 percent." The ABW has refused to comment on the matter. In June 2014, the ABW conducted a raid on editorial office of "Wprost" newspaper, after "Wprost" published stenographic records of private conversations between country officials implicating them in many unconstitutional acts and bribery. The ABW used physical force on newspapers editor-in-chief

Sylwester Latkowski Sylwester may refer to: *Stanisław Sylwester Szarzyński (1650–1720), Polish composer * Sylwester Bednarek (born 1989), Polish high jumper * Sylwester Braun (1909–1996), Polish photographer, Home Army officer *Sylwester Chęciński (born 1930) ...

in an attempt to illegally seize his laptop computer, after he refused to give it away without court warrant.

References

External links

Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego (official site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agencja Bezpieczenstwa Wewnetrznego Polish intelligence agencies Mokotów Domestic intelligence agencies