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BfV Operations

The protection of the Constitution authorities are marked often as "early warning system of the freedom." With this notion their tasks can be understood well. The BfV collects information about anti-constitutional - therefore extremist - efforts, as well as over the activity of hostile intelligence services. Critical citizens and "radical" views are no ojects of investigation for the Protection of the Constitution. Safeguarding the democratic system is defined in the Basic Law as "protection of the constitution". In order to be able to provide effective protection the federal and state authorities collect information on extremist activities and on other developments which constitute a threat to national security and evaluate it for the federal and state governments, executive authorities and courts. Another important area is counterespionage. The federal authority charged with these tasks is the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) in Cologne. It is accountable to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and cooperates with the corresponding state agencies.

The agency has no executive police powers. It may not arrest or interrogate anyone, it does not conduct house searches or confiscate objects, and is not incorporated into police stations The information, which are gathered by BfV staff members, serve the other agencies of the Federeal and State governments. The information from the BfV serves in legal proceedings as important evidence. In everything which the BfV does the rights of the citizens are secured through linking instructions and multiple controls.

The Protection of the Constitution gains the by far largest part of its information from open, generally accessible sources, including from printed materials like newspapers, leaflets, programs and manifestos. Staff members of the Federal office visit public events, and question persons who can provide relevant information on a voluntary basis.

Counterintelligence is for The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution like the military (MAD) a kind special protection of the Constitution of the German armed forces - an internal intelligence service of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The failure the "actually existing socialism" [the German Democratic Republic] has changed the security situation considerably. The German Communist party (DKP) has dramatically lost meaning and influence. But left-extremist efforts continue to endanger German internal security. So the "party of democratic socialism" (PDS) offers a clear reference points for extremist efforts. The "reds army fraction" (RAF) and the "revolutionary cells" (RZ) have continued with terrorist drives. And other violent left-wing extremists have caused damages costing millions of Marks.

As always the Federal Republic stands in the center of numerous espionage activities, although the "Ministry for State Security" (MfS), the earlier main source of espionage has departed along with the GDR. Today the intelligence services of Russia as well as the near, middle and far east try everything to procure information.

The beginning the 1990s saw greatly expanded Right-extremism which is now declining, but the right-extremist potential as well as the number the right-extremist motivated atrocities are always still by far higher than end the 1980s.

The number of the foreign extremists has climbed since 1993 around 48 percent. In the same period the number of the atrocities committed by foreign extremist has risen around 37 percent.