Serbia
Security & Intelligence Apparatus
The cessation of Montenegro from the state union of Serbia and Montenegro is expected to bring about restructuring of the Serbian intelligence and security apparatus for the purpose of accommodating them to the requirements of the new security reality.
The Security Information Agency (BIA) is expected to continue its activities in accordance with the Law on the Security Information Agency, adopted in 2002. The Law on the Security Information Agency of the Republic of Serbia came into effect on July 27th 2002. This Law for the first time in modern Serbian history separated civilian intelligence-security work from the Ministry of Interior. BIA’s spheres of competence include both counterintelligence (gathering, analysing, and evaluating information on the activities of foreign intelligence services, individuals, groups and organisations in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, directed against the state security) and intelligence (gathering, analysing, and evaluating information of political, economic, security and military nature, which refer to foreign countries, political, military and economic associations and organizations and which indicate the intentions and possibilities of covert work directed against the security of the Republic of Serbia) activities.
However, Serbia’s Strategic Defence Review, to be adopted soon by the Serbian parliament, will most likely endorse a restructuring of the military security and intelligence apparatus, providing for the merger of the now operating Military Intelligence Agency (Vojnoobaveštajne agencije Ministarstva odbrane – VOA), a successor of the disbanded in 2003 Military Security Service, and the Military Security Agency (VBA). Until May 2006 VOA head was Montenegrin Veselin Malović, who replaced at that position in January 2006 Gen. Aleksandar Dimitrijevic, while VBA was headed by Svetko Kovač from Serbia