Various items | Intelligence profile : Former Yugoslavia
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(Date: Thu, 02 Jan 2003 20:05:07 +0100)
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Various items | Intelligence profile : Former Yugoslavia
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This time we cover the former Yugoslavian republics Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and the new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Additions and corrections are welcome.
Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of sovereignty in October 1991, was followed by a declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia on 3 March 1992 after a referendum boycotted by ethnic Serbs. The Bosnian Serbs - supported by neighboring Serbia and Montenegro - responded with armed resistance aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining Serb-held areas to form a "greater Serbia." In March 1994, Bosniaks and Croats reduced the number of warring factions from three to two by signing an agreement creating a joint Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 21 November 1995, in Dayton, Ohio, the warring parties signed a peace agreement that brought to a halt the three years of interethnic civil strife (the final agreement was signed in Paris on 14 December 1995). The Dayton Agreement retained Bosnia and Herzegovina's international boundaries and created a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government. This national government was charged with conducting foreign, economic, and fiscal policy. Also recognized was a second tier of government comprised of two entities roughly equal in size: the Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb-led Republika Srpska (RS).
The Federation and RS governments were charged with overseeing internal functions. In 1995-96, a NATO-led international peacekeeping force (IFOR) of 60,000 troops served in Bosnia to implement and monitor the military aspects of the agreement. IFOR was succeeded by a smaller, NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) whose mission is to deter renewed hostilities. SFOR remains in place at the January 2002 level of approximately 18,000 troops, though further reductions may take place later in the year.
| Country name | : | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Local name | : | Bosna i Hercegovina |
| Capital | : | Sarajevo |
VF Army (the air and air defense forces are subordinate commands within the Army), VRS Army (the air and air defense forces are subordinate commands within the Army)
FOSS is the new BIH intelligence agency formed after a merger of the National Security Service (SNS) and Agency for Investigation and Documentation (AID).
[Sources: CIA World Factbook, FAS, Center for South-east European studies, Office of High Representative website, Federation News Agency (FENA)]
In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following WWII, Yugoslavia became an independent communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998.
| Country name | : | Republic of Croatia |
| Local name | : | Republika Hrvatska |
| Capital | : | Zagreb |
Ground Forces (Hrvatska Vojska, HV), Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces.
This committee of the Croatian Parliament is responsible for oversight of the intelligence community as a whole. It consists of the Ministers of Interior, Defense, Finance, Justice, Foreign Affairs, and European Integration. The committee's task is to ensure that the intelligence community is organized and operating in accordance with the law.
The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for national security, hence the police and SZUP, the internal federal security service, are under its wings.
The SZUP is Croatia's internal federal security service. It runs various departments:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has its own intelligence agency, the OBS. The main task of the OBS is/was espionage against Yugoslavia (especially Serbia). It is said that OBS is also responsible for surveillance of the diaspora community.
In 1995, a new security act was passed by the government which describes the activities of the UNS. The activities of the UNS are defined as:
The UNS has four main branches: HIS, NS, NSEI, and SO. In addition to the four branches, the UNS has its own Intelligence Academy (Obavestajna Akademija).
This one is responsible for collecting and analyzing intelligence for the president and prime minister. It coordinates the activities of the other services and deals exclusively with foreign countries.
The NS is responsible for internal security of the Croat intelligence community.
The main tasks of the SO are the security of the president and ministers, and it handles counter-intelligence.
This SIGINT agency works closely together with the army signals corps. The NSEI coordinates and manages all SIGINT info for Croatia, both internally and externally and reports to the Joint National Security Committee (SONS).
The SONS committee consists of the ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Internal Affairs, Development and Reconstruction, and the director of HIS and is chaired by the director of UNS.
A SONS meeting is normally followed by a KOOZ meeting where the heads of the intelligence agencies respond to the requirements of the Security Committee.
The military intelligence branches are the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense. The most important agency is the SIS. The army has also intelligence services: the ObU- GS-OS and OSHV.
Counter-intelligence is one of the main tasks of the SIS. Providing physical security for the Ministry of Defense and General Staff is another.
The ObU-GS-OS is the intelligence coordinating service for the military and reports to the General Staff. Its four departments are: Signals Security, HUMINT, SIGIN and ELINT.
The OSHV is primarily concerned with military intelligence, particularly intelligence collection and counter-intelligence operations against Serb forces in Krajina and Serbia.
[Sources: CIA World Factbook, FAS, Svijet, UNS website]
International recognition of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's (FYROM) independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 was delayed by Greece's objection to the new state's use of what it considered a Hellenic name and symbols. Greece finally lifted its trade blockade in 1995, and the two countries agreed to normalize relations, despite continued disagreement over FYROM's use of "Macedonia." FYROM's large Albanian minority, an ethnic Albanian armed insurgency in FYROM in 2001, and the status of neighboring Kosovo continue to be sources of ethnic tension.
| Country name | : | Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) |
| Local name | : | Republika Makedonija |
| Capital | : | Skopje |
Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Police Force
AR was the result of a merger between the Intelligence Service of the army and the former State Security Service. AR reports directly to the president.
The Ministry of Interior is responsible for the DBK. Its tasks are internal security, combating organized crime and counter-intelligence.
This is the military intelligence agency, tasked with intelligence collecting and counter-intelligence.
[Sources: CIA World Factbook, FAS, Brassey's International Intelligence Yearbook 2001, Center for South-east European studies]
The Slovene lands were part of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria until 1918 when the Slovenes joined the Serbs and Croats in forming a new nation, renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. After WWII, Slovenia became a republic of the renewed Yugoslavia, which though Communist, distanced itself from Moscow's rule. Dissatisfied with the exercise of power of the majority Serbs, the Slovenes succeeded in establishing their independence in 1991. Historical ties to Western Europe, a strong economy, and a stable democracy make Slovenia a leading candidate for future membership in the EU and NATO.
| Country name | : | Republic of Slovenia |
| Local name | : | Slovenija |
| Capital | : | Ljubljana |
Slovenian Army (includes Air and Naval Forces)
OVS is an independent government office which collects and evaluates data and supplies information on the basis of the law and in line with priorities determined by the government program for national security, passed by the National Assembly:
- important information from abroad necessary for ensuring the security, political and economic interests of the state; - information about organisations, groups and individuals who, by their activities abroad or in connection with foreign countries, actually threaten or could threaten the national security of the state and its constitutional system. The Agency co-operates with the relevant state bodies and offices in security checks, as well as supplying data relevant to the safety of certain persons, professional positions, bodies, structures and areas.
[source: Government of the Republic of Slovenia website]
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918; its name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. Occupation by Nazi Germany in 1941 was resisted by various paramilitary bands that fought themselves as well as the invaders. The group headed by Marshal TITO took full control upon German expulsion in 1945. Although Communist, his new government successfully steered its own path between the Warsaw Pact nations and the West for the next four and a half decades. In the early 1990s, post- TITO Yugoslavia began to unravel along ethnic lines: Slovenia, Croatia, and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia all declared their independence in 1991; Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro declared a new "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" (FRY)in 1992 and, under President Slobodan MILOSEVIC, Serbia led various military intervention efforts to unite Serbs in neighbouring republics into a "Greater Serbia." All efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. In 1999, massive expulsions by FRY forces and Serb paramilitaries of ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo provoked an international response, including the NATO bombing of Serbia and the stationing of NATO and Russian peacekeepers in Kosovo. There are Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS)-led coalitions governing at the federal and Serbian Republic levels, implementing a wide-ranging political and economic reform program. The governing coalition in Montenegro is seeking independence from the Federation. Kosovo has been governed by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since June 1999, under the authority of UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
| Country name | : | Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
| Local name | : | Savezna Republika Jugoslavija |
| Capital | : | Belgrade |
Army (VJ) (including ground forces with border troops, naval forces, air and air defense forces).
The SID is tasked with the gathering of intelligence overseas. The agency is under the wings of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and operates often from embassies etc.
In 1966 the Uprava drzavne bezbednosti (UDB) or Secret Police a.k.a. the Department of State Security, was reorganzied and renamed in SDB. The agency is the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior. The agency has intelligence and counter-intelligence tasks. It is also responsible for the safety of the president and his family.
The SBD has departments for domestic problems and for extremists, analytical services, the technical service (bugging, filming, etc.), and a personnel department. Its agents infiltrate into all the structures of the university and all the gathering places of people that are potentially politically dangerous in crisis situations. All important telephone lines and interesting installations dangerous to the regime are eavesdropped on, including key departments in the SBD's own ranks.
The SBD also tries to obstruct the British monitoring installation at the Turdos base on Cyprus with devices placed in Kaludjerica near Belgrade and Ivanjica in Sumadija.
KOS is reportedly one of the most conservative services in the world. Until the early 1990's the processing of intelligence was done by KOS and other military services. Around that time a major conflict between the SDB and the military services emerged. This resulted in more power for the SDB and less power for the various military agencies, including KOS. KOS is still one of the major intelligence services in Yugoslavia, though.
Two families of numbers stations are believed to be related to the former Yugoslavian republic. They are all defunct now.
| AIDA Family | S01 | S02 | E01 | M17 | X01 |
| BVT/YT Family | S08 | M27 |
A station that was reported till mid 2000 reportedly transmitted from Serbia. It is possible that it is still on the air but I haven't received any reports lately.
| 5440 | ??? | 2218Z | 27.12.99 | AM/OM/?? in progress calling "958 ---00000" a couple of times, at 2222Z off air. |
| Pronounciation : Devjat-Pjat-Ocem --- Nulad..." | ||||
| 6878 | ??? | 0818Z | 29.12.99 | AM/OM/?? in progress calling "471---00000" a couple of times, at 0830 off air |
| Pronounciation : Cetiri Sjem Jedna ---Nulad..." |
[Sources: CIA World Factbook, FAS, "Espionage" by Richard M. Bennett, Library of Congress Country Studies, USA]
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Various items | Intelligence profile : Former Yugoslavia
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