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Reportsthat Denmark’s military intelligence agency helped the US to spy on leadingEuropean politicians, including the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, havesparked concern – and demands for an explanation – in EU capitals.
Danishpublic broadcaster Danmarks Radiosaid the US National Security Agency (NSA), whose allegedtapping of Merkel’s phone was disclosed by Edward Snowden in 2013, also usedthe Danish Defence Intelligence Service (FE) to spy on officials in Sweden,Norway and France.
Theallegations are contained in an internal classified report on the FE’s role inthe surveillance partnership agreement with the NSA from 2012 to 2014, the broadcaster said,citing nine unidentified sources familiar with the investigation.
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Itsaid the NSA used Danish information cables to spy on senior officialsincluding the former German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and thethen opposition leader Peer Steinbrück. It was not clear whether the Danishgovernment authorised the taps.
TheDanish defence minister, Trine Bramsen, who took over the defence portfolio inJune 2019, was reportedly informed of the espionage in August last year. Shetold Danmarks Radio that “systematic eavesdropping of close allies” was“clearly unacceptable”.
France’s Europe minister,Clément Beaune, said the reports were “extremely serious” if proven. “We needto see if our partners in the EU, the Danes, have committed errors in theircooperation with American services,” Beaune told French radio. “Between allies,there must be trust, a minimal cooperation.”
Merkel’sspokesman, Steffen Seibert, said on Monday that the German government had“taken note of the reporting. It is in contact with all relevant national andinternational authorities for clarification.”
Steinbrücksaid the NSA and FE’s activities were “a political scandal”. The formercentre-left SPD party leader said he accepted western states neededintelligence services, but added it was “grotesque that friendly intelligenceservices are indeed intercepting and spying on top representatives of othercountries”.
DanmarksRadio published the allegations on Sunday evening in a joint investigation withthe Swedish public broadcaster SVT, Norway’s NRK, France’s Le Monde, and Germany’sNDR, WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung.
TheDanish broadcaster said the NSA retrieved text messages, calls and internettraffic including searches and chats thanks to its partnership with FE. Denmark, a closeUS ally, hosts several key landing stations for undersea internet cables to andfrom Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain.
Neitherthe agency or its director at the time, Lars Findsen, have commented on thereport. Findsen and three other FE officials were suspended last year by anindependent oversight board following criticism and accusations of seriouswrongdoings stemming from the internal investigation, which began in 2015,Danmarks Radio said.
TheNSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Sweden’s defenceminister, Peter Hultqvist, demanded “full information” and his counterpart inNorway, Frank Bakke-Jensen, said the allegations “are being taken seriously”.
Ifconfirmed, the spying was happening during and after the 2013 Snowden affair,when the former NSA contractor revealed thousands of secret documents exposingthe vast US surveillance operation mounted after the 2001 9/11 attacks.
Snowdenon Sunday accused Joe Biden, who was US vice-president at the time, of being“deeply involved … the first time around”. Snowden called on Twitter for“full public disclosure not only from Denmark, but their senior partner aswell”.
Theformer contractor has been charged in the US with theft of government property,unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilfulcommunication of classified communications intelligence and is in Russia.
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