Every country must develop a foreign intelligence service in a bid to protect the internal security of the nation. The Republic of Croatia has a foreign intelligence service known as Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA). The primary function of the SOA is to collecting information appropriate for enhancing national security and further analysis to provide intelligence support aimed at influencing policymaking. The SOA further defines its functions by asserting that it collects and analyzes information to detect activities that attempt to jeopardize the integrity, sovereignty, or independence of Croatia (Peresin, 2013). The actions further seek to defend the constitutional order, economic system, and human rights of the nation. Through the action of the Security Service Act of 2002, a legislative basis led to the creation of three security services that include Intelligence Agency (OA), Counterintelligence Agency (POA), and Military Security Agency (VSA). However, the passing of the Security and Intelligence System of the Republic of Croatia Act of 2006 combined the functions of POA and OA to form the SOA.
Historical Information of the Foreign Intelligence Apparatus
The foreign intelligence agency has undergone tremendous changes in the last two decades. Since the independence of Croatia, the organ mandated with overseeing national security was known as the Bureau for Protection of the Constitutional Order established in 1991. However, National Security Office replaced it by the beginning of 1993 (Peresin, 2013). Peresin, (2013) noted that following the amendment made in 1995; Croatia had four bodies that conducted the intelligence services in the country. The first was the Croatian Intelligence service abbreviated as HIS. The service for the Protection of the Constitutional Order of Croatia (SZUP) also had its role in protecting constitutional matters such as human rights. The other two included the Security services of the Ministry of Defense (SIS) and the Directorate of Intelligence Affairs (Peresin, 2013). Further changes in the constitution in 2002 saw the establishment of three security agencies including the Intelligence Agency, Counterintelligence Agency, and the Military Security Agency. Further in 2006 created only two agencies namely the SOA and VSA both of which have a role of protecting the internal safety of the citizens from external aggression.
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Security and Intelligence Agency
Tandarić (2015) asserted that the primary function of the SOA is to prevent any threat that endangers state security, citizens, constitutional order, and the national interests. One of their significant roles of the SOA is to counter acts of terrorism and other types of organized crime by collecting and assessing information. The information gathered and analyzed by the SOA can cut across the economic, political, scientific, and technological spectrum. The SOA not only collects information within the boundaries of Croatia but also abroad and uses a wide range of measures. They could employ open sources, humans, and even technical devices. They also investigate and prevent other foreign intelligence activities specifically directed against the interests of Croatia. The findings of the analysis are thereafter reported to the relevant state organs such as ministries, state organs, and the top leadership of the country. Some of the ministries and state organs that receive the information for further interpretation and policy-making include the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Foreign and European Affairs Ministry, Ministry of Defense, Finance Ministry, and State's Attorney's Office amongst other bodies. In performing their task, SOA partners with other security-intelligence bodies from other nations and also participate in international security workshops. The partnership is essential for Croatia given that organized crime and terrorism have taken a transnational fashion (Tandarić, 2015).
Military Security and Intelligence Agency (VSA)
The body supports the Ministry of Defense in performing duties that protect the integrity of the country. Some of their areas of focus include sovereignty, viability, territorial integrity, and independence of the nation. Akrap and Tuđman (2013) noted that the body has a vital role in ensuring that the country remains safe from internal and external aggressions. In performing its intelligence operations, it focuses on collecting, analyzing, process, and evaluating information regarding military forces and systems of other countries. It acts as a result of external pressure which in one way or the other influences the defense security. Furthermore, it targets any activity occurring abroad that has a direct influence on the security of the country. The VSA has an essential role in safeguarding the lives of Croatians in their soil. In this regard, it gathers information regarding intentions, plans, and capabilities possessed by groups, individuals, and organizations in a country with the intention of jeopardizing the nation's defensive prowess (Akrap, & Tuđman, 2013). Furthermore, it takes necessary measures to monitor, detect, and counteract any activities aimed at threatening the defense of Croatia. After, reports are made to various state organs and the leadership of the country as they await further orders.
In conclusion, the foreign intelligence agency of Croatia has undergone tremendous changes in a bid to tailor an organ that meets the security needs of the nation. Through acts of parliament, the amendments have created a bureaucratic two-level intelligence agency comprised of the Security and Intelligence Agency and the Military Security and Intelligence Agency. Currently, the two bodies have enjoyed success in protecting the country from both internal and external threats and aggression. However, the two bodies should practice more synergy and corporation because when one fails, the security of the country becomes threatened. Possibly, a single ministry or state organ should manage the two bodies instead of separating them in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Defense Ministries respectively.
References
Akrap, G., & Tuđman, M. (2013). From totalitarian to the democratic intelligence community– a case of Croatia (1990-2014). National security and the future , 14 (2), 74-132.
Peresin, A. (2013). Croatian counter-terrorism strategy: Challenges, prevention and response system . Research Institute for European and American Studies.
Tandarić, N. (2015). Geospatial Intelligence: A Review of the Discipline in the Global and Croatian Contexts. Kartografija I geoinformatics (Cartography and Geoinformation) , 14 (23), 38-49.
