Did Denmark’s secret services help the United States spy on German Chancellor Angela Merkel?
According to a joint investigation by several European media published this Sunday, the Danish secret service collaborated with the US National Security Agency (NSA), in wiretapping several European leaders, including Angela Merkel and the German president (then Foreign Minister) Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The Danish participation is a final turn of the screw in the case of US espionage on its European allies, a scandal that came to light in 2013 and that tarnished relations between Berlin and Washington.
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The new revelations, published by the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung and the public televisions NDR and WDR, point to “consent” or cooperation from Denmark with US espionage.
The Danish Defence Intelligence Service (FE) with the NSA at least between 2012 and 2014 made it possible not only to eavesdrop on Merkel’s mobile phone, but also on other leaders of the Nordic countries, such as Sweden and Norway, and even to politicians from the Netherlands or France.
The Danish government would have been aware of these activities of its secret services at least since 2015, without informing – at least publicly – its European allies. On that date, the body in charge of controlling Danish intelligence, alerted by an informant, opened an investigation that ended last August with a harsh criticism of the practices of the secret services.
Several senior FE officials were then suspended due to the wiretaps carried out on Danish citizens and the Government created a commission in December, although so far the alleged espionage of European leaders by the NSA had not transcended.
Macron asks for clarification
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel today urged a “total clarification” of the role allegedly played by Denmark in the so-called “spying among friends” of the United States on European leaders .
“The case goes back years. But if the information is true, it is not acceptable, even less among European allies,” said Macron, after intergovernmental consultations in virtual format with Merkel, who expressed her “confidence” that the Danish government “clarify” what happened.
Among partners, more among Europeans, “he cannot make room for suspicion,” insisted Macron, who indicated that his country has already asked Denmark for “complete information” and is awaiting answers.
Relations between partners are based on “certainty and trust,” Merkel pointed out about a case that, at the time, shook the tune with her great transatlantic ally by revealing the eavesdropping on her mobile phone by US espionage.
Paris already reacted this Monday with indignation, while Berlin has opted for caution, despite the fact that the trigger for the scandal was the wiretaps on Merkel’s mobile phone, known in 2013. Merkel already expressed her discomfort to the then president, Barack Obama, for what she called “unacceptable espionage among friends.”
Successive journalistic revelations brought to light these practices, which the NSA had been carrying out since the 1990s and which also affected other European leaders, as well as the European Central Bank (ECB).
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