German magazine: US bugged EU offices, computer networks

BERLIN (AFP) — Washington targeted European Union offices in Brussels and the United States, German weekly Der Spiegel reported yesterday, in fresh spying allegations attributed to US fugitive Edward Snowden.

The story, the latest in a series of allegations about US intelligence activity, is likely to further strain relations with its European partners.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz said in a statement he was shocked at the allegations and demanded full clarification from Washington.

Der Spiegel said its report was based on confidential documents, some of which it had been able to consult via Snowden.

It was former intelligence analyst Snowden who earlier this month revealed details of the so-called PRISM program operated by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

He is currently in the transit area at Moscow airport, seeking a country that will accept his request for asylum.

One document, dated September 2010 and classed as “strictly confidential,” describes how the NSA kept tabs on the European Union’s diplomatic mission in Washington, Der Spiegel said.

Microphones were installed in the building and the computer network infiltrated, giving the agency access to emails and internal documents.

The EU delegation at the United Nations was subject to similar surveillance, Der Spiegel said: the leaked documents referred to the Europeans as “targets.”

And the spying also extended to the 27-member bloc’s Brussels headquarters.

Der Spiegel referred to an incident “more than five years ago” when EU security experts discovered telephone and online bugging devices at the Justus Lipsius building.

In 2003, the EU announced it had found phone taps in the building targeting the offices of several countries, including Britain, France and Germany. It was not immediately clear if Der Spiegel was referring to this case.

Schulz, in his statement, said: “I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of US authorities spying on EU offices.

“If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EUUS relations.”

He demanded full and speedy clarification from the US authorities.

“The US would do better to monitor its intelligence services instead of its allies,” Schulz added.

Even before the latest allegations, the EU’s Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding wrote to US attorney general Eric Holder earlier this month calling for answers about its Internet spy program.

“Fundamentally, this is a question of trust,” Reding said in a June 14 speech. “Trust of citizens towards their governments and to the governments of partner nations.”

The top-secret PRISM program collects and analyses information from Internet and phone users around the world, with access to data from Google, Yahoo! and other Internet firms.

US officials say the information gathered is vital in the fight against global terrorism.