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Office for Foreign Relations and Information

Coordinates: 50°7.54592′N 14°27.76793′E / 50.12576533°N 14.46279883°E / 50.12576533; 14.46279883
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Office for Foreign Relations and Information
Úřad pro zahraniční styky a informace
Seal of ÚZSI

Headquarters of ÚZSI[1]
Agency overview
FormedJanuary 1, 1993; 32 years ago (1993-01-01)
Preceding agency
  • Office for Foreign Relations and Information of the Federal Ministry of the Interior
TypeIntelligence agency
JurisdictionGovernment of the Czech Republic
HeadquartersPrague, Czech Republic
50°7.54592′N 14°27.76793′E / 50.12576533°N 14.46279883°E / 50.12576533; 14.46279883
Motto"Sine ira et studio" ("without anger and bias")
EmployeesUnknown
Minister responsible
Agency executive
Parent agencyMinistry of the Interior
Websitewww.uzsi.cz

The Office for Foreign Relations and Information (ÚZSI) (Czech: Úřad pro zahraniční styky a informace) is the main foreign intelligence service of the Czech Republic responsible for the collection, analysis and dissemination of intelligence. It is mandated to provide accurate and timely intelligence to the Government of the Czech Republic that is vital to support and protect foreign and economic policy interests.

The service also protects the country from terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, economic crimes, etc. Powers of the service are determined by the Act N.153/1994 Coll., the Intelligence Services of the Czech Republic Act which also lays out the structure of the organization. Officers of the service are mandated to act in accordance with the agency's code of ethics.[2]

History

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The UZSI was located within the portfolio of the Czech Ministry of the Interior before the Act No. 153/1994 Coll. on intelligence services of the Czech Republic which made the service an independent institution. Before the Czech Republic became independent the agency was called the Office for Foreign Relations and Information of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. After the Czech independence, UZSI faced numerous challenges concerning the services development like developing a new framework of their activities, using new technologies and cooperation with foreign intelligence services.

Production had significantly increased after these improvements had been made. Today the intelligence agency is a major player on the international intelligence scene and represents the Czech intelligence community all over the world.[3]

Organizational structure

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UZSI is headed by a Director-General who, on the government's consent, is appointed and dismissed by the Minister of the Interior. Czech's Interior minister is accountable to Government for the actions of UZSI. Directors in UZSI include:

  • Office of the Director General – who is responsible for Security and Defense, the secretariat of Public Affairs and the Inspection and control department. Directly subordinated to the Director are advisors including the Spokesman of the Office and those who are responsible for the areas of Security and Defence, Inspection and Control.
  • Deputy Director for Intelligence and Operations – who is responsible for numerous operational departments which include the Analysis department, the Signals Intelligence department and the foreign department. This director is also responsible for communication and the exchange of intelligence with foreign partners;
  • Deputy Director for Logistics – who is accountable for the finance and logistics, communication and information technology, archives and administration, legal affairs, personnel and training.[4]

Director General

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The current director of UZSI is Vladimír Posolda [cs]. He joined the Czechoslovak Federal Security Information Service [cs] in 1990, and worked for the Security Information Service (BIS) until 1998. Between 1998 and 2020, Posolda worked for UZSI, and was Deputy Director of Operations from 2019 until he left in 2021 due to disputes with then-director Marek Šimandl [cs].[5][6]

Former directors of the agency include:[7]

Radio operations

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According to Langley Pierce's Intercepting Numbers Stations, ÚZSI once operated a shortwave numbers station using the OLX callsign. The station ran under ÚZSI until 1996.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Katalog firem a institucí • Firmy.cz". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
  2. ^ "Who we are?". Úřad pro zahraniční styky a informace. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  3. ^ "Úřad pro zahraniční styky a informace - ÚZSI". Úřad pro zahraniční styky a informace. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  4. ^ Our Internal Arrangement, Retrieved 4/02/2011.
  5. ^ "Civilní rozvědku povede Posolda, souhlasila vláda" [Posolda will lead civilian intelligence, the government agreed]. ČT24 (in Czech). ČTK. 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2025-04-15.
  6. ^ "Director General". Úřad pro zahraniční styky a informace. Retrieved 2025-04-15.
  7. ^ "Office for Foreign relations and information". Úřad pro zahraniční styky a informace. Retrieved 2025-04-15.
  8. ^ "OLX". Simonmason.karoo.net. Archived from the original on 2013-06-18. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
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