Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency
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The Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency ( sl, Slovenska obveščevalno-varnostna agencija; or , ; lit. ''Owl'') is the main civilian intelligence service in the
Republic of Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...
and as a
government agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...
is subordinated directly to the
Prime Minister of Slovenia The prime minister of Slovenia, officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Predsednik Vlade Republike Slovenije), is the head of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia. There have been nine officeholders sinc ...
. The mission of SOVA as the central intelligence and security service in the Republic of Slovenia is to provide national security. The agency's headquarters are located at Stegne Street in
Dravlje Dravlje (; german: Draule''Intelligenzblatt zur Laibacher Zeitung'', no. 141. 24 November 1849, p. 19.) is a former village in the City Municipality of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Geography Dravlje is an elongated settlement at a transit ...
, northwest of
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
's centre. Its military counterpart is the Intelligence and Security Service ( sl, Obveščevalno-varnostna služba; ''OVS''), which is part of the
Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
.


History

SOVA traces its origins to the State Security Service ( sl, Uprava službe državne varnosti; SDV), which was formed in 1966 when Slovenia was still within Yugoslavia, by renaming as the
State Security Administration The State Security Service ( hr, Služba državne sigurnosti, sr, Служба државне безбедности; mk, Служба за државна безбедност; sl, Služba državne varnosti), also known by its original name ...
. On 9 May 1991 the service was renamed as the Security and Information Service ( sl, Varnostno-informativna služba; VIS). Renaming to the current name was performed on 17 June 1993, at which time the agency was transferred from the
Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
to the
Government of Slovenia The Government of the Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Vlada Republike Slovenije) exercises executive authority in Slovenia pursuant to the Constitution and the laws of Slovenia. It is also the highest administrative authority in Slovenia. The governmen ...
.


Directors

*
Miha Brejc Mihael Brejc, also known as Miha Brejc (born 15 November 1947) is a Slovenian politician and former Member of the European Parliament. In 2004, Brejc was elected to the European Parliament. He was part of the European People's Party parliament ...
(1990–1993) * Janez Sirše (1993) * Silvan Jakin (1993) * Drago Ferš (1993–1999) * Tomaž Lovrenčič (2000–2002) * Iztok Podbregar (2002−2006) *
Matjaž Šinkovec Matjaž Šinkovec (; born on 22 May 1951) is a Slovenian diplomat, politician, translator, journalist and science fiction writer. He was one of the co-founders of the Slovenian Democratic Party. Early life and career Šinkovec was born in a mi ...
(2006−2007) *
Andrej Rupnik Andrey, Andrej or Andrei (in Cyrillic script: Андрей, Андреј or Андрэй) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk ( – 1399), Lithuanian nobleman *An ...
(2007 − 22 July 2010) * Sebastjan Selan (22 July 2010 − 10 February 2012) * Damir Črnčec (10 February 2012 − March 2013) * Stane Štemberger (March 2013 – October 2014) * Andrej Oček (October 2014 – November 2014) *
Zoran Klemenčič Zoran Klemenčič (born 28 April 1976 in Ljubljana) is a Slovenian former professional road cyclist. Major results ;1996 : 1st Stage 6 Tour of Slovenia : 4th Trofeo Città di Castelfidardo ;1997 : 1st Stage 7 Okolo Slovenska ;1998 : 1st Road ra ...
(November 2014 – September 2018) * Rajko Kozmelj (September 2018 – March 2020) * Janez Stušek (April 2020 – )


Controversies


Illegal wiretapping of an Italian diplomat (1991)

Before the
Ten-Day War The Ten-Day War ( sl, desetdnevna vojna), or the Slovenian War of Independence (), was a brief armed conflict that followed Slovenia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. It was fought between the separatists of the ...
the then VIS recorded a phone call between a member of the Slovenian Presidency
Ciril Zlobec Ciril Zlobec (4 July 1925 – 24 August 2018) was a Slovene poet, writer, translator, journalist and former politician. He is best remembered for his poems, publishing several volumes of poetry in his lifetime. In 1990 he became a member of the P ...
and the Italian consul, during which Zlobec informed the Italian consul of the date of the Slovenian Declaration of Independence.


Illegal wiretapping of opposition (1991−1993)

Under the Brejc period some leading members of the
LDS LDS may refer to: Organizations * LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah, US Religion * Latter Day Saint movement (LDS movement), a collection of independent church groups **The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest group within th ...
party. were recorded.


Black fund (2002−2006)

After Iztok Podbregar was replaced as director by the new government in 2006, a special investigation team under the leadership of the new Minister of Justice
Lovro Šturm Lovro Šturm (19 May 1938 – 2 December 2021) was a Slovenian jurist and politician. He was a law professor and served as the president and judge of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, the Minister of Education and Minister of Justice of Slov ...
was formed with the task of reviewing the agency's activities. The investigation found an undocumented black fund, which was used to cover non-traditional cancer treatments for then-President
Janez Drnovšek Janez Drnovšek (; 17 May 1950 – 23 February 2008) was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1989–1990), Prime Minister of Slovenia (1992–2002, with a short break in 2000) and President of Slovenia (200 ...
, as well as the purchase of expensive retirement presents, establishment of companies, among other things. The investigation team also revealed that SOVA was wiretapping over 3000 foreign telephone numbers, and was recording telephone conversations between the Slovenian and Croatian Prime Ministers.


Safe house exposed (2007)

In March 2007, the daily newspaper ''
Dnevnik Dnevnik means "The Daily" or "Daily News" in South Slavic languages. It can also be translated as "Diary". Closely related Slavic variants of the word are Deník (Czech) Dziennik (Polish) and Дневник (Russian). It may refer to: ;In broadc ...
'' exposed SOVA's
safe house A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...
in the centre of Ljubljana, while writing about a visit to it by SOVA's director
Matjaž Šinkovec Matjaž Šinkovec (; born on 22 May 1951) is a Slovenian diplomat, politician, translator, journalist and science fiction writer. He was one of the co-founders of the Slovenian Democratic Party. Early life and career Šinkovec was born in a mi ...
and the PM's consultant Aleksander Lavrih. After this the agency's collaboration with the German
Bundesnachrichtendienst The Federal Intelligence Service (German: ; , BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin and is the world's largest intelligence head ...
regarding telecommunications tapping in the Western Balkans was also exposed.


Exposed photos (2011)

In September 2011 about 80 photos of former
UDBA The State Security Service ( hr, Služba državne sigurnosti, sr, Служба државне безбедности; mk, Служба за државна безбедност; sl, Služba državne varnosti), also known by its original name ...
agents with retired and current SOVA agents were published on several internet sites; these photos were taken during a picnic, while some agents were drunk and displaying communist symbols. Among them was also Zvonko Hrastar, ex-agent (and husband of state prosecutor Branka Zobec Hrastar), who in 1988 arrested
Janez Janša Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), baptized and best known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2 ...
(future defense and prime minister) and with this started the
JBTZ trial The JBTZ trial or the JBTZ affair ( sl, afera JBTZ), also known as the Ljubljana trial () or the Trial against the Four () was a political trial held in a military court in Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia in 1988. The defendants, Janez Janša, ...
.


Expensive furniture (2012)

In March 2012 it was revealed that former director Sebastjan Selan ordered expensive furniture (in excess of €112,000) for his executive-level 5-bedroom apartment, which was intended for high level international meetings. This was done while the government was imposing budget cutbacks. The new director Damir Črnčec discontinued his use of the apartment and ordered an internal review.
Dnevnik.si - Novi direktor je prepovedal uporabo stanovanja Sove v Ljubljani
/ref>


Accusations of political bias (2013)

In January 2013, the
Commission for the prevention of corruption of the Republic of Slovenia The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of the Republic of Slovenia (acronym CPC; sl, "Komisija za preprečevanje korupcije Republike Slovenije", KPKRS) is an independent anti-corruption agency with a broad mandate in the field of preventi ...
received an indictment, that was also sent to the President of the Republic, and to the parliamentary
Commission for Supervision of Intelligence and Security Services Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anothe ...
, the agency may be politically biased because after 2011 the leading positions were taken by members of
Janez Janša Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), baptized and best known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2 ...
's political party, the
Slovenian Democratic Party The Slovenian Democratic Party ( sl, Slovenska demokratska stranka, SDS), formerly the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia ( sl, Socialdemokratska stranka Slovenije, SDSS), is a conservative political party in Slovenia. It has been described as ...
.


References


External links

*http://www.sova.gov.si/e

the official website {{Authority control Slovenian intelligence agencies Organizations based in Ljubljana 1993 establishments in Slovenia Government agencies established in 1993 Dravlje District Domestic intelligence agencies