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Verfassungsschutz
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution ( or BfV, often ''Bundesverfassungsschutz'') is Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency. Together with the Landesämter für Verfassungsschutz (LfV) at the state level, the federal agency is tasked with intelligence-gathering on efforts against the liberal democratic basic order, the existence and security of the federation or one of its states, and the peaceful coexistence of peoples; with counter-intelligence; and with protective security and counter-sabotage. The BfV reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and tasks and powers are regulated in the Federal Constitutional Protection Act (''Bundesverfassungsschutzgesetz (BVerfSchG))''. The last President was Thomas Haldenwang; he had been appointed in 2018 and left office in November 2024. The next president is supposed to be assigned by a new government following the 2025 German federal election. Overview Together with the Federal Intelligence S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Far-right Politics In Germany (1945–present)
The far-right in Germany () slowly reorganised itself after the fall of Nazi Germany and the dissolution of the Nazi Party in 1945. Denazification was carried out in Germany from 1945 to 1949 by the Allied forces of World War II, with an attempt of eliminating Nazism from the country. However, various far-right parties emerged in the post-war period, with varying success. Most parties only lasted a few years before either dissolving or being banned, and explicitly far-right parties rarely gained seats in the Bundestag (West Germany's and now modern Germany's federal parliament) post-WWII until the 2010s. In the communist state of East Germany, open right-wing radicalism was relatively weak until the 1980s. Later, smaller extremist groups formed (e.g. those associated with football violence). The most successful far-right party in Germany in the immediate post-war period was the Deutsche Rechtspartei (German Right Party), which attracted former Nazis and won five seats in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verfassungsschutz Berlin
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution ( or BfV, often ''Bundesverfassungsschutz'') is Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency. Together with the Landesämter für Verfassungsschutz (LfV) at the state level, the federal agency is tasked with intelligence-gathering on efforts against the liberal democratic basic order, the existence and security of the federation or one of its states, and the peaceful coexistence of peoples; with counter-intelligence; and with protective security and counter-sabotage. The BfV reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and tasks and powers are regulated in the Federal Constitutional Protection Act (''Bundesverfassungsschutzgesetz (BVerfSchG))''. The last President was Thomas Haldenwang; he had been appointed in 2018 and left office in November 2024. The next president is supposed to be assigned by a new government following the 2025 German federal election. Overview Together with the Federal Intelligence Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
State Authority For The Protection Of The Constitution
The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (; ) is a state-level security agency in Germany. In seven federal states of Germany, it is a semi-independent agency called and reports to the state's interior ministry. In the nine remaining federal states, it is organized as a division within the state's interior ministry. The following states, mostly Western German, have a detached : * Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz Baden-Württemberg * Bayerisches Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz * Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz Bremen * Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg * Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz Hessen * Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz Saarland * Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz Sachsen The following nine states, both in the East and West part, have a division within each state Interior Ministry handling constitutional protection: * Verfassungsschutz Berlin * Verfassungsschutz Brandenburg * Verfassungsschutz Mecklenburg-Vorpom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liberal Democratic Basic Order
The liberal democratic basic order (, informal abbreviation or FDGO) is a fundamental term in German constitutional law. It determines the unalienable, invariable core structure of the German commonwealth. As such, it is the core substance of the German constitution. Building upon more general definitions of liberal democracy, the term has a specific legal meaning in Germany and is part of the German (originally West German) system of a '' Streitbare Demokratie'' ("fortified democracy") that bans attempts to dismantle the liberal democratic basic order by what German authorities refer to as "enemies of the Constitution" or "extremists". In practice, the concept has been used to target various far-right, far-left and other extremist groups. A historical example is the ideological struggle against Soviet- controlled East Germany ("GDR") during the Cold War, when West Germany's commitment to defending democracy was closely linked with its opposition to Soviet and East German aut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Haldenwang
Thomas Haldenwang (born 21 May 1960) is a German lawyer and was president of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (''Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz)'' from 2018 to 2024. Biography Haldenwang was born in 1960 in Wuppertal and studied law at the University of Marburg. Since November 2018 Haldenwang has been the president of the ''Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz'', a German intelligence agency with the mission to fight extremist adversaries of the federal constitution. BfV-presidency After his appointment, he announced an increased focus of the BfV on right-wing extremism. The number of employees in this phenomenon area should be increased from 200 to 300. In the murder case of Walter Lübcke, Haldenwang said that one might also have to assume a scenario of "sleepers" in the field of right-wing extremismsimilar to that in the field of Islamismand adapt accordingly to it. By classifying the AfD group Der Flügel as a "secured right-wing extremist a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinan Selen
Sinan Selen (born 1972, Istanbul) is a German constitutional lawyer, executive officer and the Vice-President of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). Selen is the first high-ranking officer with a migrant background in the German intelligence services. Early life and education Selen was born in Istanbul to secular parents. At the age of four, he and his parents moved to Cologne, where his parents were journalists at the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. In high school he wrote for the students' journal. He was also involved as a paramedic with the St. John ambulance service. He studied European law at the University of Cologne. Career In 2000 Selen began his career at the Federal Criminal Police Office where he was assigned to the security detail of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Minister of the Interior Otto Schily. After the terrorist attacks on the twin towers in New York on 11 September 2001 he searched for traces of evidenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Ministry Of The Interior (Germany)
The Federal Ministry of the Interior (, ; abbreviated BMI) is a German Cabinet, cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is in Berlin, with a secondary seat in Bonn. The current minister is Nancy Faeser. It is comparable to the UK Home Office or a combination of the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of Justice, because both manage several law enforcement agencies. The BMI is tasked with the internal security of Germany. To fulfill this responsibility it maintains, among other agencies, the two biggest federal law enforcement agencies in Germany, the Federal Police (Germany), Federal Police (including the GSG 9) and the Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany), Federal Criminal Police Office. It is also responsible for the federal domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. History The ''Reichsamt des Innern'' (Imperial Office of the Interior) was the Ministry of the Interi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Intelligence Agencies Of Germany
The following is a list of intelligence agencies of Germany. : Currently active *Federal Intelligence Service (BND) (): foreign and military intelligence * Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) (): (defensive) counterintelligence within the Bundeswehr and the Federal Ministry of Defence. *Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) (): national domestic intelligence ** State Offices for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV) (): domestic intelligence for the 16 subnational states Besides that there are several other military and civilian agencies in Germany which do not have the status of an intelligence service, but have certain responsibilities similar to those of intelligence services or include close cooperation with German intelligence services: *Strategic Reconnaissance Command (KSA) (): central functional command for military intelligence, military signals intelligence and geospatial intelligence, part of Cyber and Information Domain Service. Subordi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Intelligence Service
The Federal Intelligence Service (, ; BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin. The BND has 300 locations in Germany and foreign countries. In 2016, it employed around 6,500 people; 10% of them are military personnel who are formally employed by the Office for Military Sciences. The BND is the largest agency of the German Intelligence Community. The BND was founded during the Cold War in 1956 as the official foreign intelligence agency of West Germany, which had recently joined NATO, and in close cooperation with the CIA. It was the successor to the earlier Gehlen Organization, often known simply as "The Organization" or "The Org", a West German intelligence organization affiliated with the CIA whose existence had not been officially acknowledged. The most central figure in the BND's history was general Reinhard Gehlen, the leader of the Gehlen Organization and lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parliamentary Oversight Panel (Germany)
The Parliamentary Oversight Panel (PKGr) is a committee of the German Bundestag responsible for oversight of the intelligence agencies of Germany. The PKGr monitors the Federal Intelligence Service (BND; ), the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD; ), and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV; ). Under the (PKGrG; ), the federal government is obliged to inform the PKGr comprehensively about the general activities of the federal intelligence services and about events of particular importance. Tasks and Duties At the beginning of each legislative period, the German Bundestag elects the members of the Parliamentary Oversight Panel from among its members (Section 2 (1) PKGrG). It determines the number of members, the composition, and the working methods of the Parliamentary Oversight Panel (Section 2 (2) PKGrG). The Parliamentary Oversight Panel meets at least once every quarter. It elects a chairperson and their deputy. It adopts its own rules of proc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Counterintelligence Service (Germany)
The Military Counterintelligence Service (; MAD) is one of the three federal intelligence agencies in Germany, and is responsible for military counterintelligence within Bundeswehr. The MAD is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Defense. The primary tasks of the MAD include securing German troops, camps and facilities against external threats. This is primarily about defensive military intelligence, i.e. the collection of strategic information nationally and at deployments abroad. The MAD is responsible for vetting new members of the armed forces and monitors them for extremism and possible espionage. The headquarters of the MAD are in Cologne, with twelve offices located in cities throughout Germany. These MAD offices are collectively known to be the Militärischer Abschirmdienst. The agency has about 1,300 military and civilian employees and in 2019 the budget was €113,252,000. Its formal name is ''Bundesamt für den Militärischen Abschirmdienst'', changed from the forme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2025 German Federal Election
The 2025 German federal election was held in Germany on 23 February 2025 to elect the 630 members of the List of members of the 21st Bundestag, 21st Bundestag, down from 736 in 2021 due to reforms in seat distribution. The 2025 election took place seven months ahead of schedule due to 2024 German government crisis, the 2024 collapse of the Scholz cabinet, incumbent governing coalition. Following the loss of his majority, the chancellor #Snap election, called and intentionally lost a motion of confidence, which enabled the approval of a new election by the president. The 2025 election was the fourth early election in post-war German history, and the first since 2005 German federal election, 2005. Three opposition parties increased their votes in the election, compared with the 2021 German federal election, previous federal election in 2021. The conservative CDU/CSU alliance became the largest group in the Bundestag, with 28.5% of votes. Although this result was well below the 41.5% ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
