Europe seeks answers in row over spying claims
COPENHAGEN: France warned on Monday that alleged US spying on European allies using Danish underwater cables would be “extremely serious” if confirmed, as questions mounted over whether Denmark knew what the US was doing.
In an investigative report on Sunday, Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) revealed together with several other European media outlets that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had eavesdropped on Danish underwater internet cables from 2012-14 to spy on top politicians in Germany, Sweden, Norway and France.
On Monday night, French President Emmanuel Macron said he expected the US and Danish governments to present explanations. “This is not acceptable between allies, and even less between allies and European partners,” said Macron.
The NSA was able to access text messages, telephone calls and internet traffic including searches, chats and messaging services - including those of Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, then foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and then opposition leader Peer Steinbruck, DR reported.
“It is extremely serious,” France’s Europe minister Clement Beaune told France Info radio. “We need to see if our partners in the EU, the Danes, have committed errors or faults in their cooperation with American services.”
He said it would be disturbing if Washington had indeed been spying on EU leaders. “Between allies, there must be trust, a minimal cooperation, so these potential facts are serious,” the minister said. He said the facts must first “be verified” and then “conclusions drawn in terms of cooperation”.
Denmark’s neighbours Sweden and Norway have also demanded explanations from Copenhagen, though the tone has been more cautious.
A German government spokesman said on Monday that Berlin was “in contact with all relevant national and international interlocutors to get clarification”.
DR said the NSA had taken advantage of a surveillance collaboration with Denmark’s military intelligence unit FE to eavesdrop on the cables. But it was unclear whether Denmark knew at the time that the US was using the cables to spy on Denmark’s neighbours. Contacted by AFP, FE refused to comment on the revelations.
Defence minister Trine Bramsen, who took over the defence portfolio in June 2019, has neither confirmed nor denied DR’s report, telling AFP only that “systematic eavesdropping of close allies is unacceptable”.