Agency profile : Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Slovakia | Logs
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(Date: Sun, 03 Jun 2001 00:55:12 +0200)
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Agency profile : Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Slovakia | Logs
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Sources: World Fact Book, FAS, RFE/RL, Library of Congress Country Studies (Area Handbook), Czech and Slovak government web sites http://www.bis.cz and http://www.government.gov.sk. Act 153 of the Czech Republic.
Once part of the Holy Roman Empire and, later, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, Czechoslovakia became an independent nation at the end of World War I. Independence ended with the German takeover in 1939. After World War II, Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize party rule and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The following intelligence organizations were active in Czechoslovakia until 1993.
The Ministry of Interior controlled the armed security organizations in the country except for the regular armed forces and some prison guards.
The police in Czechoslovakia was not called police, but rather security. The National Security Corps comprises Public Security and State Security. Public Security was a uniformed force that performs routine police duties throughout the country. State Security, the former Secret Police, was at the same time an investigative agency, an intelligence agency, and a counter intelligence agency. Any activity that could possibly be considered anti-state fell under the purview of State Security. St a.k.a. Secret Police, was notorious for their cruelty and brutal methods of interrogation.
The SNB was an armed force, organized and trained as such but equipped to perform police rather than military functions. Its members are subject to military discipline and are under the jurisdiction of military courts. The Ministry of Interior operated its own higher level educational institute, which trained security personnel at different stages of their careers. The Advanced School of the National Security Corps in Prague, granted academic degrees to the SNB and the Border Guard, also under the Ministry of Interior.
Public Security performed routine police functions at all levels from federal to local. In 1987 it was reported to be a relatively small force for the extent of its responsibility, but it was augmented by volunteer auxiliary units. The federal minister of interior controlled other forces that could be ordered to assist Public Security if needed, and he could also request further help from the military.
Public Security and State Security units were deployed throughout the country and had headquarters at regional and district levels; there were 10 kraje and 114 districts in 1987. Public Security forces also established sections in rural areas. Both forces were under the ostensible supervision of the ministries of interior of the Czech and Slovak socialists republics. However, there seemed to be no question that operational direction of the security forces emanated from the Ministry of Interior at the federal level and that the two ministries of the component republics had administrative rather than supervisory functions.
Another militarized security force subordinated to the Ministry of Interior was the Border Guard, which was established in 1951 as a separate agency under the then-existing Ministry of National Security. The Border Guard was an armed force subject to the same military regulations that govern the CSLA. In mid-1987, in addition to the individual small arms carried by its personnel, the Border Guard also had some armored vehicles, antitank guns, and machine guns.
The main strength of the Border Guard has been deployed along the West German border since 1950. Smaller units patrolled the Austrian frontier as well as the borders with East Germany and Poland. Only a few units were stationed on the Hungarian and Soviet borders. The basic operational unit was the battalion, which was divided into companies and platoons and could be grouped into brigades for administrative purposes. The federal minister of interior could call the Border Guard to supplement security forces if necessary, and in wartime it could be assigned to the army either to serve specialized guard functions or to fight as infantry. Members of the Anti Aircraft Defense helped the Border Guard by instituting air patrols. The portion of the border with Hungary formed by the Danube River was patrolled by the Border Guard, which used launches and patrol boats equipped with radar and infrared sighting devices.
In his article "Twenty Five Years Ago in Prague", Don Moore describes the role of the Czechoslovakian clandestine stations in 1968, when the USSR invaded the country. Parts of the article are reprinted hereafter with kind permission of Don.
« With the fall of Communism in Europe several years behind us, it's hard to remember what Cold War tensions were like. Yet, twenty- five years ago this month, the Cold War became extremely cold when the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia. As so often in modern warfare, radio was there to play an important role.
At 2200 UTC on August 20, at least 250,000 Warsaw Pact troops -mostly Soviets, but also East Germans, Poles, Bulgarians, and Hungarians - crossed into Czechoslovakia. News of the invasion traveled slowly to the capital, and not until 01:00 did Czechoslovak Radio broadcast the first news of it to a startled world. Shortwave listeners reported that Radio Prague's external services carried on with their normal prerecorded broadcast, without any mention of the invasion. The Prague Radio Building on Vinohrodska Street, just behind the National Museum in the Central City, would be the center of resistance. Within minutes of the radio's invasion announcement, Czechoslovak youths began gathering on Vinohrodska Street. Using wood, stones, buses and trolley cars, they began constructing massive barricades across the street.
At 8:00 a.m. Soviet troops surrounded the station building. A woman announcer reported this to the listeners, noting that, "They are going to silence our voices, but they cannot silence our hearts." The microphone was passed from hand to hand as the announcers asked the audience to remain calm and have courage. One man held the microphone to the window so the listeners could hear machine gun fire outside. As her companions sobbed in the background, the first woman announcer came back on and reported, "They have entered the building, but we are still here and will be with you as long as we can hold out ... we are behind Dubcek and we will never give up, NEVER." Then the national anthem was played.
Surprisingly, only 7 Czechoslovaks were killed in the two battles for the radio station, out of a total of 23 killed in Prague and other cities. Later in the afternoon, thousands of citizens carrying a blood splattered flag made a funeral procession along Vinohradska Street in honor of the fallen in the battle for Radio Prague.
Within half an hour of Radio Prague's fall, a clandestine anti-Soviet broadcaster came on the air in Prague. Gradually others were added elsewhere in the city, and in cities such as Brno, Pilsen, and Ceske Budejovice. Around the country, local radio staffs left their studios and took to the airwaves from secret locations.
At first, the clandestines provided news and moral support for the resistance. As they became more organized, the stations actually began to orchestrate the resistance. Then, as the resistance centered on the clandestine network, the stations became a sort of quasi-government for a nation without a real one. Their slogan was "Jsme s v mi; bud'te s n mi!", or "We are with you; be with us!" Although the underground stations denounced the Soviet invasion, they always stressed their loyalty to the Socialist system as represented by Dubcek and his "Prague Spring". Rather than being anti-Communist, they supported a liberal form of Communism. And they always pointed out that they were "free, legitimate" radio stations of the Czechoslovak people.
Surprisingly, in concentrating on closing down official Czechoslovak radio studios, the Soviets didn't bother to occupy several key medium and long wave transmitter sites. Radio technicians then set up make-shift studios and connected them to the usual high-powered transmitters on their normal frequencies! Soon, however, the Soviets wised up and occupied the transmitter sites, too.
By this time, the free radios had set up a number of a hodgepodge of true clandestine transmitters. Some came from the Czechoslovak army and others from factories, especially the Tesla Electronics Equipment plant. In other cases amateur transmitters were pressed into service. Still others were put together at the moment with whatever parts were at hand.
The stations worked together, and soon a true clandestine network came together. Up to nineteen stations took turns broadcasting for fifteen minutes at a time on the same frequency. Each station had local and national news, plus coded messages for members of the resistance. Numbered codes signaled the end of a transmission so the next station in the link could come on. At first the breaks between stations were choppy with as much as five minutes of dead air. Later the engineers became so proficient that the switches were often not even noticeable. During their time off the air, some stations moved their transmitter to a new site before their next turn, as a further guard against discovery.
The clandestine operators didn't limit themselves to radio. They put on at least four underground TV stations also. The broadcasts were highly professional, and in addition to news carried a lot of comedy programs making fun of the invasion. Humorous Russian lessons were especially popular, as was a satirical tour for visitors of the sites of occupied Prague.
Although the Czechoslovak clandestine broadcasts caught the Soviets by surprise, the Soviets had their own clandestine stations, too. Just a few hours after the invasion began, Radio Vltava came on 210 meters, claiming to be a Czechoslovak station and justifying the invasion as the will of the Czechoslovak people. The broadcasts, however, were in Russian-accented Czech and broken Slovak. The free radios announced Radio Vltava's frequency to their listeners and invited them to listen to it for amusement. Radio Vltava was actually located in East Germany, and eventually its frequency was taken over by Radio Berlin International. Later at least three other Soviet-operated clandestine stations broadcast briefly to Czechoslovakia. One, Vysilac Zare (Dawn Transmitter), pretended to be pro-Dubcek, but careful monitoring proved it to be a subtle attempt at spreading disinformation among the underground.
Finally, the invaders located a list of government-registered hams and the troops systematically began shutting them down one by one. Others stations realized the fight was over and shut down on their own. On Thursday, August 29, the last free radio station, on 950 kHz at a location near the Austrian border, closed down. The radio battle for Czechoslovakia was over. »
Slovenska Republika (Slovak Republic or Slovakia) with capital Bratislava
8 regions; Banskobystricky, Bratislavsky, Kosicky, Nitriansky, Presovsky, Trenciansky, Trnavsky, and Zilinsky.
Ground Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, and Civil Defense Force.
After centuries under foreign rule, mainly by Hungary, the Slovaks joined with their neighbors to form the new nation of Czechoslovakia in 1918. Following the chaos of World War II, Czechoslovakia became a communist nation within Soviet-ruled Eastern Europe. Soviet influence collapsed in 1989, and Czechoslovakia once more was an independent country turning toward the West. The Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully on 1 January 1993. Slovakia has experienced more difficulty than the Czech Republic in developing a modern market economy.
The following security agencies are reportedly active in Slovakia;
Little is known about the Slovak intelligence services (SIS). Recently some embarrassing facts were revealed by the head of the SIS, Vladimir Mitro. Mitro says that during the time that Meciar ruled in Slovakia, the SIS has been involved in abduction and murder, including kidnapping of President Michal Kovac's son, Michal junior, in 1995. SIS is also accused of inciting neo-Nazism and racism in the Czech Republic, in an attempt to destabilize the neighboring country.
In contrast with the Czech Republic, the StB's structure has never been fully dismantled in Slovakia. Many of its surveillance devices were left basically intact, and are apparently still being used. Today, the Slovak intelligence agency SIS operates much as the Czechoslovak StB did before 1989.
An RFE report says: « Cameras hidden under jackets draped over one shoulder, walkie-talkies in the shape of fountain pens, small microphones hidden under cuffs and lapels -- all standard tools in the days of the StB -- are back in Bratislava and other big cities. Indeed, intelligence experts say that those instruments are now accompanied by even more up-to-date technology, including disposable one-time-use microphone-transmitters the size of a lead pellet that can be shot at a target's back and clings to him until he brushes it off. »
Ceska Republika (Czech Republic) with capital: Praha (Prague)
73 districts: Benesov, Beroun, Blansko, Breclav, Brno-Venkov, Bruntal, Ceske Budejovice, Ceska Lipa, Cesky Krumlov, Cheb, Chomutov, Chrudim, Decin, Domazlice, Frydek-Mistek, Havlickuv Brod, Hodonin, Hradec Kralove, Jablonec nad Nisou, Jesenik, Jicin, Jihlava, Jindrichuv Hradec, Karlovy Vary, Karvina, Kladno, Klatovy, Kolin, Kromeriz, Kutna Hora, Liberec, Litomerice, Louny, Melnik, Mlada Boleslav, Most, Nachod, Novy Jicin, Nymburk, Olomouc, Opava, Pardubice, Pelhrimov, Pisek, Plzen-Jih, Plzen-Sever, Prachatice, Praha-Vychod, Praha Zapad, Prerov, Pribram, Prostejov, Rakovnik, Rokycany, Rychnov nad Kneznou, Semily, Sokolov, Strakonice, Sumperk, Svitavy, Tabor, Tachov, Teplice, Trebic, Trutnov, Uherske Hradiste, Usti nad Labem, Usti nad Orlici, Vsetin, Vyskov, Zdar nad Sazavou, Zlin, Znojmo, and 4 municipalities: Brno, Ostrava, Plzen, and Praha.
Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense, Railroad Units.
In the short period after the collapse of the Soviet authority in 1989 till 1994, when the BIS was formed, a number of Czechoslovak and -later- Czech organizations have been active. Here is a rundown:
« Act No. 153 of July 7, 1994 on the Intelligence Services of the Czech Republic » gives a description of the tasks of the various agencies.
The Security Information Service (BIS) secures information on
The Office for Foreign Relations and Information (UZSI) secures information of foreign provenance which is important for the security and protection of the foreign political and economic interests of the Czech Republic.
The Military Intelligence secures information on
The intelligence services fulfill further tasks as defined by specific legislation or international treaties by which the Czech Republic is bound.
The related numbers stations can be grouped in five 'families'. For clarity's sake I will use the ENIGMA designators here. Station profiles can be found in previous N&O's. Most of the stations are gone for a while now. S31 went down the drain late last year. The survivors are S10, S10E, M07, M10, M10E, and S17C.
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