China News Service, May 31. According to foreign media reports, the US National Security Agency has been exposed recently through a partnership with Danish foreign intelligence agencies to monitor European dignitaries, including German Chancellor Merkel.
On January 26, local time, German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered a speech to the World Economic Forum "Davos Agenda" Dialogue via video in Berlin.
The picture shows a live speech shot in Berlin that day.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Peng Dawei
According to Reuters, citing the Danish National Radio and Television (DR) report, the US National Security Agency monitored senior officials in Sweden, Norway, France, and Germany through Danish information cables in 2012 and 2014. The targets also included the former German Foreign Minister Stein. Inmeier and former German opposition leader Per Steinbrück.
The report quoted 9 sources as saying that starting in 2015, the Danish Defense Intelligence Agency conducted an internal investigation into the role of the US National Security Agency in the partnership and obtained the above-mentioned findings.
Previously, since 2014, the Danish Defense Intelligence Agency launched an internal investigation because the previous year, the former US defense contractor employee Edward Snowden disclosed the working methods of the US National Security Agency.
According to the report, the National Security Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
In addition, a spokesperson for the Danish Defense Intelligence Agency also declined to comment.
When asked about this report, a spokesperson for the German Chancellor Merkel's office said that the office learned the news from the media, but declined to comment further.
Per Steinbrück said, "I think this is a political scandal."
Swedish Defense Minister Hultquist stated that "all information about these matters is requested."
Norwegian Defense Minister Jensen said that he would "take these allegations seriously."
According to reports, Denmark is a close ally of the United States, has multiple submarine cables, and is the main cable landing point for the Internet in Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.