Overview

• Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt informed BfV staff on Monday that Selen is his choice, and the cabinet is slated to decide on the nomination Wednesday.
• The move would end roughly ten months without a permanent president following Thomas Haldenwang’s departure for an unsuccessful Bundestag bid.
• Selen, 53, would be the first BfV chief not born in Germany and has served as vice president since 2019 after senior roles at the BKA, Federal Police and Interior Ministry.
• He has highlighted counter‑espionage and hybrid operations by Russia as top priorities, while the agency also confronts a court challenge to its May classification of the AfD as ‘gesichert rechtsextremistisch’.
• Lawmakers from several parties praised his expertise, while others criticized the prolonged vacancy and urged overdue reforms of intelligence law and oversight.