The Security Intelligence Agency ('' sr, Безбедносно-информативна агенција / Bezbednosno-informativna agencija''; abbr. ''BIA'') is a national

intelligence agency 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 informa ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. The agency is responsible for collecting, reporting and disseminating

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...

, and conducting

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 ...

in the interest of Serbia's national security.

History

The Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) was formed on 1 August 2002 as the successor of State Security Service (SDB), which existed from 1991 to 2002. Its function is similar to that of the CIA in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

or the

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

2017–present

In May 2017,

Bratislav Gašić Bratislav Gašić ( sr-cyr, Братислав Гашић; born 30 June 1967) is a Serbian politician serving as minister of internal affairs since 2022. A former member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he served as the minister of defence ...

, former

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

and close associate of outgoing

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

and newly elected

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Вучић, ; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as the president of Serbia since 2017, and as the president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012. Vučić serve ...

, was appointed as the head of the Security Intelligence Agency. Following his appointment, Gašić suspended his activities in the ruling

Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party ( sr-cyrl, Српска напредна странка, Srpska napredna stranka, SNS) has been the ruling political party of Serbia since 2012. Founded by Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić in 2008 as a s ...

(SNS). In August 2017, an amendments to the ''Law on the Security and Information Agency'', which strengthen the authorities of the agency's director, have arrived in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

for adoption. This move was condemned by several officials including the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance Rodoljub Šabić and former co-Minister of Internal Affairs Božo Prelević. They have stated that these amendments are unconstitutional and thus way creating a platform for "party's intelligence agency" of SNS, aimed at the opposition and citizens opposed to the ruling regime.

Directors

Source: ; Status

In popular culture

*Serbian TV series ''Državni službenik'' follows the work of one BIA field agent. *Documentary TV series produced by Radio Television of Serbia ''Tajne službe Srbije'' explores the history and lives of notable people during the history of the Agency. * Novel ''Služba'' (English: ''Service'') by the former BIA agent Goran Živaljević

References

External links