Fury over US 'Cold War' tactics aimed at Europe
July 1, 2013, Monday
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The United States bugged European Union offices and gained access to EU internal computer networks, according to secret documents cited in a German magazine, the latest in a series of exposures of alleged US spy programs.
Der Spiegel said its report, which detailed covert surveillance by the US National Security Agency on EU diplomatic missions, was based on confidential documents, some of which it had been able to consult via Edward Snowden.
The European Union angrily demanded answers from the US yesterday over the allegations.
"We have immediately been in contact with the US authorities in Washington DC and in Brussels and have confronted them with the press reports," the European Commission said. "They have told us they are checking on the accuracy of the information released yesterday and will come back to us."
One document, dated September 2010 and classed as "strictly confidential," describes how the agency kept tabs on the European Union's mission in Washington, Der Spiegel said.
Microphones were installed in the building and the computer network infiltrated, giving the agency access to e-mails and internal documents.
The EU delegation at the United Nations was subject to similar surveillance, Der Spiegel said, adding that the spying also extended to the 27-member bloc's Brussels headquarters.
It said leaked documents referred to the Europeans as "targets," in intelligence activity reminiscent of the Cold War.
The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, said he was "deeply worried and shocked about the reports of US authorities spying on EU offices."
Schulz said that if the magazine's allegations that the agency bugged EU offices were confirmed "it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations."
Germany targeted
In a separate report yesterday, Der Spiegel said leaked documents showed that the US secret services targeted Germany more than any other EU country.
Citing figures from NSA documents, the magazine said half a billion forms of communication - phone calls, e-mails, text messages and Internet chats - were monitored in Germany every month.
The Der Spiegel claims are the latest in a series of allegations about US spying activity revealed by Snowden, a former NSA contractor who is holed up in a Moscow airport transit zone after the US issued a warrant for his arrest and revoked his passport.
Germany said the US must quickly say if the spying allegations were true. "It's beyond our imagination that our friends in the US consider the Europeans as enemies," Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said. "If the media reports are accurate, it is reminiscent of actions among enemies during the Cold War."
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Paris had also demanded an explanation from US authorities about the reports. Such spying activities would be "totally unacceptable."
Green Party leaders in the European Parliament, Rebecca Harms and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, called for an immediate investigation and suggested that recently launched negotiations on a trans-Atlantic trade treaty should be put on hold.
They also called for existing US-EU agreements on the exchange of bank transfer and passenger record information to be canceled.
French MEP Jean-Luc Melenchon said France should grant Snowden asylum and also called for a suspension of trade negotiations with the US.
Der Spiegel also referred to an incident more than five years ago when EU security experts discovered bugging devices at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels. In 2003, the EU announced it had found phone taps in the building targeting the offices of several countries. It was not clear if this was the incident referred to.
Der Spiegel said its report, which detailed covert surveillance by the US National Security Agency on EU diplomatic missions, was based on confidential documents, some of which it had been able to consult via Edward Snowden.
The European Union angrily demanded answers from the US yesterday over the allegations.
"We have immediately been in contact with the US authorities in Washington DC and in Brussels and have confronted them with the press reports," the European Commission said. "They have told us they are checking on the accuracy of the information released yesterday and will come back to us."
One document, dated September 2010 and classed as "strictly confidential," describes how the agency kept tabs on the European Union's mission in Washington, Der Spiegel said.
Microphones were installed in the building and the computer network infiltrated, giving the agency access to e-mails and internal documents.
The EU delegation at the United Nations was subject to similar surveillance, Der Spiegel said, adding that the spying also extended to the 27-member bloc's Brussels headquarters.
It said leaked documents referred to the Europeans as "targets," in intelligence activity reminiscent of the Cold War.
The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, said he was "deeply worried and shocked about the reports of US authorities spying on EU offices."
Schulz said that if the magazine's allegations that the agency bugged EU offices were confirmed "it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations."
Germany targeted
In a separate report yesterday, Der Spiegel said leaked documents showed that the US secret services targeted Germany more than any other EU country.
Citing figures from NSA documents, the magazine said half a billion forms of communication - phone calls, e-mails, text messages and Internet chats - were monitored in Germany every month.
The Der Spiegel claims are the latest in a series of allegations about US spying activity revealed by Snowden, a former NSA contractor who is holed up in a Moscow airport transit zone after the US issued a warrant for his arrest and revoked his passport.
Germany said the US must quickly say if the spying allegations were true. "It's beyond our imagination that our friends in the US consider the Europeans as enemies," Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said. "If the media reports are accurate, it is reminiscent of actions among enemies during the Cold War."
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Paris had also demanded an explanation from US authorities about the reports. Such spying activities would be "totally unacceptable."
Green Party leaders in the European Parliament, Rebecca Harms and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, called for an immediate investigation and suggested that recently launched negotiations on a trans-Atlantic trade treaty should be put on hold.
They also called for existing US-EU agreements on the exchange of bank transfer and passenger record information to be canceled.
French MEP Jean-Luc Melenchon said France should grant Snowden asylum and also called for a suspension of trade negotiations with the US.
Der Spiegel also referred to an incident more than five years ago when EU security experts discovered bugging devices at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels. In 2003, the EU announced it had found phone taps in the building targeting the offices of several countries. It was not clear if this was the incident referred to.
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