Between 2012 and 2014, the American intelligence services connected to Danish telecommunications cables to spy on politicians in Germany, Sweden, Norway and France, reveals this investigation conducted by several European media.
The United States has been spying on politicians in Europe, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2012 to 2014 with the help of the Danish intelligence services, reveals an investigation (in Danish) carried out by a consortium of major European media. The Danish public television channel Danmarks Radio (DR) assured, Sunday, May 30, that the National Security Agency (NSA) had connected to Danish telecommunication cables to spy on leading officials and senior officials in Germany, in Sweden, Norway and France.
To do this, the NSA has benefited from a surveillance collaboration within the Danish military intelligence services, according to DR. The Danish media revealed this information after an investigation carried out jointly with the Swedish channel SVT, the Norwegian channel NRK, the German channels NDR, WDR and the daily Suddeutsche Zeitung , as well as the French daily Le Monde (article for subscribers).
NSA reportedly had access to text messages and calls
The Danish channel assures that the Danish Defense Minister, Trine Bramsen, who was appointed in June 2019, was informed of this affair in August 2020. “Systematic espionage by allies is unacceptable,” she said. reacted to DR. It is not established that Denmark knew that the United States was using its surveillance system to spy on its neighbors.
According to the investigation, the NSA was able to access text messages, phone calls and internet traffic, including searches, chats and messaging services. The NSA spying was reported in an internal Danish military intelligence report and presented to management in May 2015, according to DR. Neither Danish intelligence nor then-director Lars Findsen have commented on the revelations yet.
“Serious potential facts”, reacts France
In November 2020, DR previously reported that the United States used Danish cables to spy on Danish and European defense industries from 2012 to 2015.
“Between allies, there must be, even if we are not in a world of Care Bears, trust, minimal cooperation, so these potential facts are serious” , reacted Clément Beaune , Secretary of State for European Affairs , Monday on franceinfo.