Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism
Austrian agency
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz und Terrorismusbekämpfung, "BVT") was an Austrian police organization that acted as a domestic intelligence agency. It was tasked with the protection of the constitutional organs of the Republic of Austria and their ability to function. The agency was created from the Austrian State police, as well as various special task forces targeting organized crime and terrorism that were under the direction of the Directorate General for Public Security (Generaldirektion für die öffentliche Sicherheit, "GDföS"), which itself is a department of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The BVT published the Verfassungsschutzbericht, an annual report on the status of the protection of the constitution.
In late 2021, following criticism for perceived failures in preventing the 2020 Vienna attack, the BVT was dissolved and replaced with the new Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service (DSN).
History
The BVT was created in 2002 through the reorganization of various special task forces of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the former state police. This was undertaken as a reaction to a perceived danger to public security caused by an increase in international terrorism. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, Federal Minister of the Interior Ernst Strasser ordered the restructuring of Austrian counterterrorism efforts.
Gert-René Polli, an officer of the Heeresnachrichtenamt, was named director. After Polli's resignation in October 2007, Peter Gridling, a former director of an Austrian counterterrorism task force, was named his successor.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism” is austrian agency. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Federal, Office and Protection, not as a finished interpretation.
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