Changes to State Security Office come under heavy criticism from opposition

The Deputy Interior Minister, Andrzej Barcikowski, became the new head of the State Security Office (UOP). However, he will not keep the position for long, as the Left Democratic Alliance (SLD) plans to liquidate the office and create two separate bodies, the Intelligence Agency and the Internal Security Agency. The proposal, discussed yesterday in parliament, has been heavily criticized by deputies from opposition parties who feared that the transformation would affect the effectiveness of the security services and increase bureaucracy as well as allow former communist security officers to be re-employed by the state. The amendment was sent to a parliamentary commission for further consideration. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 5; Zycie, p. 7) M.K.