Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency helped the National Security Agency (NSA) carry out "political espionage" by surveilling "top officials at the French Foreign Ministry, the Elysee Palace and European Commission" the German daily paper reports.
A spokeswoman for the German federal government refused to comment when contacted by The Local on Thursday, saying only that it would answer to the parliamentary committees responsible for overseeing the spies in due course.
Long portrayed as a victim of snooping by allies, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has grappled this week with embarrassing reports of German spying on European firms on behalf of the United States.
Thursday's revelations are likely to be the most damaging on a diplomatic level, in so far as they affect relations with one of the Federal Republic's most vital allies.
“Behind the scenes right now there will be intensive negotiations and communication between the German and French counterparts," Josef Janning, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The Local. Full story...
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A spokeswoman for the German federal government refused to comment when contacted by The Local on Thursday, saying only that it would answer to the parliamentary committees responsible for overseeing the spies in due course.
Long portrayed as a victim of snooping by allies, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has grappled this week with embarrassing reports of German spying on European firms on behalf of the United States.
Thursday's revelations are likely to be the most damaging on a diplomatic level, in so far as they affect relations with one of the Federal Republic's most vital allies.
“Behind the scenes right now there will be intensive negotiations and communication between the German and French counterparts," Josef Janning, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The Local. Full story...
Related posts:
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- Spying together: Germany's deep cooperation with the NSA...
- Germany expels CIA station chief in Berlin over US spying row...
- Barack Obama 'approved tapping Angela Merkel's phone 3 years ago'
- German intelligence service is as bad as the NSA...
- Merkel denied access to own NSA file...
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