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Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) | |
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![]() Emblem of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution | |
Agency overview | |
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Formed | 7 November 1950 |
Jurisdiction | Government of Germany |
Headquarters | Cologne |
Employees | 3,864 (2019) |
Annual budget | €476 million (2021)[1] |
Minister responsible | |
Agency executives |
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Parent agency | Federal Ministry of the Interior |
Website | www.verfassungsschutz.de |
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (German: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz 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.[2] The BfV reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and tasks and powers are regulated in the Bundesverfassungsschutzgesetz. The President is Thomas Haldenwang; he was appointed in 2018.[3]
Together with the Federal Intelligence Service and the Military Counterintelligence Service, the BfV is one of the three federal intelligence services.
The BfV investigates efforts and activities directed against the federal level of Germany or transnational, in matters of foreign policy significance and at the request of a state authority for the protection of the constitution.[4]