The US National Security Agency (NSA) has used its partnership with the Danish Foreign Intelligence Unit to spy on high-ranking officials from neighboring countries, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Danish state broadcaster DR reported, per Reuters.
The revelations are the result of an internal investigation by Danish military intelligence in 2015, dedicated to the role of the US agency in the partnership, said nine unnamed sources with access to the investigation, which covers 2012 and 2014.
The NSA reportedly used Danish information cables to spy on high-ranking officials in Sweden, Norway, France and Germany, including former German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and former German opposition leader Peer Steinbrück.
Denmark is home to several submarine internet cables to and from Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
According to DR, the internal investigation of the Danish military intelligence began in 2014 due to concerns that arose after the revelations of Edward Snowden the previous year about the way the NSA works.
So far, the NSA has not commented on the information, and Danish military intelligence has declined to comment. “It is grotesque that friendly intelligence services are actually intercepting (communications) and spying on high-ranking officials from other countries,” Steinbrück told German television ARD. “Politically, I consider this a scandal,” he added. The German chancellery said it had learned of the allegations from journalists and declined to comment further.
Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist told SVT television that he had asked for full information about the case. Norwegian Defense Minister Frank Bake-Jensen told NRK that he “takes the allegations seriously.”
Danish state television also reported that the removal of the head of Danish military intelligence and three other officers from their posts last August due to allegations of serious violations was linked to the 2015 investigation.
Last year, the Danish government said it would launch an investigation into the case based on information obtained through a signal. The investigation is expected to be completed this year.
U.S. espionage of their allies, revealed by Edward Snowden’s documents through SPIEGEL magazine, could have serious consequences in the long run.
