The intelligence community of Croatia consists of two main security and intelligence agencies: Security and Intelligence Agency (Croatian: Sigurnosno-obavještajna agencija or SOA): the civilian foreign intelligence service of the Croatian government. Military Security and Intelligence Agency (Croatian: Vojna sigurnosno-obavještajna agencija or VSOA): the counterintelligence agency for the Croatian Armed Forces.

Their work is overseen by the Croatian Parliament, the President of the Republic, the Government, the Office of the National Security Council and the Council for the civilian scrutiny of the security intelligence agencies. The community of intelligence agencies, military and civilian, was established by Croatia during the Croatian War of Independence, becoming integral to the modern Croatian Armed Forces. Total security and intelligence spending is $66.7 billion.Chris Hippner, "A Study Into the Size of the World's Intelligence Industry" (Master's Thesis, December 2009), 7, https://www.scribd.com/doc/23958185/A-Study-Into-the-Size-of-the-World-s-Intelligence-Industry.

Organization According to the Constitution of Croatia, the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister cooperate in directing the operations of the security services. The appointment of directors of security agencies is counter-signed by the President and the Prime Minister, upon a prior opinion of the Domestic Policy and National Security Committee of the Croatian Parliament.

National Security Council

Tasks of cooperation between President of the Republic and the Prime Minister in directing the work of security and intelligence agencies, is within the competence of the National Security Council (Vijeće za nacionalnu sigurnost). Members of NSC are the President of the Republic, the President of the Government, Minister of Defense, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Minister of Justice, National Security Advisor to the President of the Republic, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, the Head of UVNS, the Directors of SOA and VSOA, the President of the Parliament also takes part in its work, and if necessary other people as well.

Council for the Coordination of Security and Intelligence Services The Council for the Coordination of Security Intelligence Services (Savjet za koordinaciju sigurnosno-obavještajnih agencija) is responsible for the operational coordination of the work of security intelligence agencies. Members of the Council are the Member of the Government responsible for national security, as the Chairperson of the Council; the National Security Advisor to the President of the Republic, as Deputy Chairperson; the Directors of security and intelligence agencies and the Head of UVNS. If necessary, other persons from judicial, police, inspection, oversight and other entities and institutions may take part in the meetings of the Council.

Office of the National Security Council The Office of the National Security Council (Ured Vijeća za nacionalnu sigurost or UVNS) is the body of the Croatian security and intelligence system which provides support in the field of national security for major state institutions. The UVNS has three major duties: support for the National Security Council and Council for the Coordination of Security Services; analysis of the Agencies' reports and expert scrutiny of the work of the security and intelligence agencies and OTC; information security - NSA.

Security and Intelligence Agency

The Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) systematically collects, analyzes and processes data significant for the national security. SOA endeavours to detect and prevent activities aimed at threatening the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia, violent subversion of state authorities, basic freedom and human rights guaranteed by the Constitution and other laws, and the basic economic system of the Republic of Croatia.

Abroad, SOA systematically collects, analyzes, processes and evaluates the political, economic, security and military data relating to foreign countries, international governmental and non-governmental organizations, political, military and economic alliances, groups and individuals exhibiting intentions, capabilities, covert plans and secret activities aimed at threatening the national security.

Military Security and Intelligence Agency

The Military Security and Intelligence Agency (VSOA) is a unit that falls within the Ministry of Defence. In its intelligence operations VSOA collects, analyzes, processes and evaluates data on military forces and defence systems of other countries, on external pressures which may influence the defence security, as well as on activities abroad, aimed at threatening the defence security of the country. VSOA, on the territory of the Republic of Croatia, collects, analyzes processes and evaluates data on the intentions, capabilities and plans made by persons, groups, and organizations in the country with the intention of threatening the defence power of the country; and takes necessary measures to detect, monitor and counteract these activities.

Information Systems Security Bureau The Information Systems Security Bureau (Zavod za sigurnost informacijskih sustava or ZSIS) is the central state authority responsible for the technical areas of information security of the state bodies. The director of ZSIS is appointed by the Government, at the proposal of the Council for the Coordination of Security Intelligence Agencies.

Operational Technology Centre for the Surveillance of Telecommunications The Operational Technology Centre for the Surveillance of Telecommunications ( or OTC) is a small agency in the frame of the Croatian intelligence and security community responsible for activation and management of the measures of secret surveillance of telecommunication services. The director of OTC is appointed by the Government, at the proposal of the Council for the Coordination of Security Intelligence Agencies.

Oversight The work of security and intelligence agencies is subject to the scrutiny conducted by the Croatian Parliament (parliamentary scrutiny), the Office of the National Security Council (professional scrutiny) and the Council for the Civilian Scrutiny of Security and Intelligence Agencies (civilian scrutiny).

Aside the above-mentioned scrutiny there is within each agency a special organisational unit responsible for the scrutiny of the work of its employees.

Parliamentary scrutiny The scrutiny of the Croatian Parliament over security intelligence agencies is conducted directly or through the Parliamentary Committee for Domestic Policy and National Security (), and the Council for the Civilian Scrutiny of the Security Intelligence Agencies.

Professional scrutiny Professional scrutiny over the work of security intelligence agencies and of the OTC is performed by the Office of the National Security Council.

Civilian scrutiny Croatia is one of few countries where the civilian scrutiny over the agencies work is conducted along with the parliamentary and professional scrutiny. For the purpose of ensuring of the civilian scrutiny over the work of security intelligence agencies in 2002 was established the Council for Civilian Scrutiny of Security and Intelligence Agencies () pursuant to the Security Services Act of 28 March 2002. The Council consists of a chairperson and six members, all of whom are appointed by the Croatian Parliament. The Council's chairperson and members are appointed for a term of four years, after which they may be re-appointed. The Council monitors the legality of the work of security agencies, monitors and oversees application of measures for confidential data gathering which limits constitutionally-guaranteed human rights and fundamental freedoms.

History After the first democratic, multiparty elections held in 1990, the process of building state institutions commenced within the framework of newly-sovereign Croatia.

Early 1990s On 27 May 1991, President Franjo Tuđman established the Bureau for the Protection of the Constitutional Order (Ured za zaštitu ustavnog poretka or UZUP). The scope of its work, and its primary task was providing advice and professional assistance, in the area of protection of the constitutional order, to competent authorities performing functions in the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As a part of the system for the protection of constitutional order, the Bureau was responsible for coordinating and directing the system as a whole. The Service for the Protection of the Constitutional Order, in the framework of the MoI, the Security and Information Service in the MoD, and the Research and Documentation Service of the MFA were all obliged to report to the Bureau on their respective work and results. The Bureau reported to the President of the Republic and to the top state authorities. These authorities, i.e. their services, were the foundation of the system for the protection of the constitutional order.

1993–2002 The main tasks of the intelligence community in the 1990s included the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Croatia (liberation of the occupied territories of Croatia), problems of regional security (resolution of the crises in Bosnia and Herzegovina), international terrorism and organized crime, counter-intelligence protection. From the beginning, the focus of the intelligence work of the intelligence community was the territorial integrity of Croatia and regional stability, and two thirds of the operations and projects was devoted to these goals. Only one third of the capacity was directed toward international terrorism, organized crime and counter-intelligence protection.

National Security Office UZUP ceased to exist on 21 March 1993 when, by the decision of the President Tuđman, the National Security Office ( or UNS) was established as the executive state authority which coordinated, directed, and supervised the work of government services whose activities were connected to national security.

Two years later, on 17 May 1995, the Croatian Parliament adopted the National Security Office Act. In only 17 short articles, the tasks of UNS were outlined as were the details of its internal structure. According to that Act, three services were founded and fall under its jurisdiction: Croatian Intelligence Service (Hrvatska izvještajna služba or HIS), Security Headquarters (Stožer osiguranja), Supervision Service (Nadzorna služba).

In order to perform the professional and technical activities of the National Security Office, the following services (or its organizational units) were formed: National Center for Electronic Monitoring (Nacionalna služba elektroničkog izviđanja or NSEI), which was operationally linked to the Croatian Army's Central Signals Intelligence Service and provided both internal and external signals intelligence. The NSEI was directly responsible to the Director of the UNS and the Joint National Security Committee. Intelligence Academy (Obavještajna akademija). This two services were not regulated by any legislative acts, rather only by the acts on internal organization.

The Director of the UNS, appointed by the President, was responsible to the President of the Republic for the work of the UNS and the individual services of the National Security Office.The first five years of the Croatian Intelligence Service: 1993-1998, Miroslav Tuđman, National security and the future, Vol.1 No.2. June 2000.

The Directors were:National Security Office Hrvoje Šarinić Krunislav Olujić Miroslav Tuđman – acting Luka Bebić Ivan Jarnjak Tomislav Karamarko

Intelligence Community