The National Security Agency collaborated with an intelligence unit in Denmark to spy on top European leaders from 2012 to 2014, a Tuesday report alleged.
Over the two-year period, the NSA used the Danish Defense Intelligence Service’s information cables to eavesdrop on top brass in Sweden, Norway, France, and Germany, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as former German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and former German opposition leader Peer Steinbruck, according to Reuters, which cited allegations from Denmark’s DR broadcaster.
The NSA intercepted calls, texts, and chat messages from the neighboring European powers using a software program, which was dubbed Xkeyscore, nine unnamed sources told DR. The report followed the results of a 2015 internal investigation into the Danish Defense Intelligence Service after the bombshell leaks from whistleblower Edward Snowden, who went rogue and revealed confidential information about how the U.S. government body operates.
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Snowden evaded apprehension from U.S. authorities and has since been given asylum in Russia.
Danish Defense Minister Trine Bramsen did not confirm or deny the allegations, though she indicated that spying on “close allies is unacceptable.”
“I can more generally say that this government has the same attitude as the former prime minister expressed in 2013 and 2014: Systematic wiretapping of close allies is unacceptable,” she told Reuters.
Snowden issued a statement on Twitter following the report.
“If only there had been some reason to investigate many years ago,” he said, according to a Google translation. “Oh why didn’t anyone warn us?”
Steinbruck, a reported target of the espionage, called the allegations “grotesque” and a “scandal.”
It’s “grotesque that friendly intelligence services are indeed intercepting and spying on top representatives,” he said, adding, “Politically, I consider it a scandal.”
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World leaders in Sweden, France, and Norway have also expressed outrage over the accusations.
The NSA had no comment on the report when asked by the Washington Examiner.
