The State Security Department or VSD () is a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

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

which collects information on threats to

national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

and works to eliminate those threats. The VSD also conducts

counterintelligence Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's Intelligence agency, intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering informati ...

, protects state secrets and

classified information Classified information is confidential material that a government deems to be sensitive information which must be protected from unauthorized disclosure that requires special handling and dissemination controls. Access is restricted by law or ...

, and vets certain applicants for residence permits or entry to Lithuania.

History

The origins of the institution are in the ''Intelligence Unit'' established within the

Lithuanian Armed Forces The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Navy, the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force. In wartime, the Li ...

on 27 October 1918. The first head of the intelligence service was Jonas Žilinskas. In 1923, many intelligence activities were transferred to the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

and the institution changed its name over time. In 1933 it was re-organized into the ''State Security Department'' with the objective to suppress espionage activities. The last director of the service in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

was Augustinas Povilaitis. In the aftermath of the Soviet invasion and occupation in 1940, he was arrested and executed by the Soviets. The department was reestablished on 26 March 1990. At that time, the department was also responsible for certain aspects of law enforcement: providing protection to state officials and strategic objects, ensuring integrity of state communications network, investigating

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influen ...

. Other agencies took over these extra duties and, during 2010, the mission of VSD was clarified to mainly focus on intelligence and

Directors

* Mečys Laurinkus (26 March 1990 – 19 March 1991) * Viktoras Zedelis (acting) * Zigmas Vaišvila (27 September 1991 – 19 March 1992) * Balys Gajauskas (22 April 1992 – 11 August 1992) * Petras Plumpa (11 August 1992 – 4 January 1993) * Jurgis Jurgelis (4 January 1993 – 3 June 1998) * Mečys Laurinkus (2nd time, 3 June 1998 – 30 April 2004) * Arvydas Pocius (30 April 2004 – 12 June 2007) * Povilas Malakauskas (12 June 2007 – 28 December 2009) * Romualdas Vaišnoras (acting) * Gediminas Grina (9 April 2010 – 13 April 2015) * Darius Jauniškis (14 April 2015 – 14 April 2025) *Remigijus Bridikis (14 April 2025 - Present)

References

External links

* Lithuanian intelligence agencies Counterintelligence agencies Law enforcement agencies of Lithuania 1990 establishments in Lithuania Government agencies established in 1990 {{Lithuania-stub

History

Directors

See also

References

External links