Europeans demand answers over alleged US bugging

The European Union, Paris and Berlin angrily demanded answers from the United States on Sunday over allegations Washington had bugged EU offices, the latest spying claim attributed to fugitive leaker Edward Snowden.

The report in German weekly Der Spiegel is likely to strain relations between the United States and Europe, shortly after they launched formal negotiations to create what would be the world's biggest free trade area.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding warned that the long-awaited negotiations could be affected if the bugging allegations proved true.

“We can't negotiate a large transatlantic market if there is any doubt that our partners are bugging the offices of European negotiators,” Reding said at a meeting in Luxembourg, her spokesperson told AFP.

Der Spiegel said its report, which detailed covert surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA) on EU diplomatic missions, was based on confidential documents, some of which it had been able to consult via Snowden.

“We have immediately been in contact with the US authorities in Washington DC and in Brussels and have confronted them with the press reports, “ the European Commission said in a statement.

“They have told us they are checking on the accuracy of the information released yesterday and will come back to us.” The United States said Sunday it will respond to the EU via diplomatic channels over the bugging allegations.

“While we are not going to comment publicly on specific alleged intelligence activities, as a matter of policy we have made clear that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations,” added a statement from the office of the Director of National Intelligence in Washington.

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

Microphones were installed in the building and the computer network was 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, adding that the spying also extended to the 27-member bloc's Brussels headquarters.

It said the leaked documents referred to the EU as a “target”, in intelligence activity reminiscent of the Cold War. US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, who was travelling with Secretary of State John Kerry in the Middle East and Asia, declined to comment on Sunday.

In the only US reaction to the Spiegel claims so far, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes on Saturday refused to be drawn into commenting directly on the allegations but said it was “worth noting” the US was “very close” to EU security services.

The Spiegel claims are the latest in a series of allegations about US spying activity revealed by Snowden, a former NSA contractor who is holed up in a Moscow airport transit zone after the United States issued a warrant for his arrest and revoked his passport. EU powerhouse Germany said the United States must quickly say whether the spying allegations were true or not.

“It's beyond our imagination that our friends in the US consider the Europeans as enemies,” Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said in a statement.

“If the media reports are accurate, it is reminiscent of actions among enemies during the Cold War.” -- 'Totally unacceptable' -- French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Paris had also demanded an explanation from US authorities. If the allegations are confirmed, he said the spying activities would be “totally unacceptable”.

AFP