The Second Investigation Department or AOTD ( lt, Antrasis operatyvinių tarnybų departamentas) is a
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n
intelligence agency under the
Ministry of National Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in stat ...
. It conducts
military intelligence as well as intelligence and
counterintelligence in the areas of defense.
History
The origins of the institution are in the ''Intelligence Unit'' established within the
Lithuanian Armed Forces on 27 October 1918. In 1923, many intelligence activities were transferred to the
Ministry of the Interior forming what later became
State Security Department of Lithuania
The State Security Department or VSD ( lt, Valstybės saugumo departamentas) is a Lithuanian intelligence agency which collects information on threats to the national security and works to eliminate those threats. The VSD also conducts counter ...
. Military and defense related intelligence stayed within the military command and after 1929 the service was reorganized and named the ''Second Unit''.
The department was
reestablished in 1990 as ''Information Unit'', later reorganized and renamed to Second Investigation Department in 1997.
Its early task was to gather intelligence on Soviet military units operating in the region.
Since Lithuania became a member of
NATO, AOTD closely cooperates with the NATO intelligence community.
See also
*
State Security Department
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Military intelligence agencies
Law enforcement agencies of Lithuania