FRANCE SLAMS US OVER NSA ‘ESPIONAGE’
Paris, 26 Sha’ban 1434/5 July 2013 (MINA) – France has taken a swipe at the U.S. over allegations that its largest intelligence organization, the National Security Agency (NSA), spied on the European Union offices both in the US and Europe.
This criticism was delivered by France’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls in a speech at a Fourth of July event hosted by the U.S. ambassador in Paris on Thursday.
“Such practices, if proven, do not have their place between allies and partners,” Valls said and asked Washington to explain the “espionage”, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday that secret documents provided by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden showed the US had spied on EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels.
In a Thursday resolution overwhelmingly adopted in the European Parliament, based in Strasbourg, France, European lawmakers strongly condemned the U.S. “spying on EU representations” and called for “immediate clarification from the U.S. authorities on the matter.”
The European Commission warned that European businesses may stop using services by American Internet providers over the recent surveillance scandal.
Snowden revealed that the NSA, through cooperation with giant Internet providers like Facebook, Apple, Google and six others controlled all the global Internet communication.
Meanwhile, a working group of high-level U.S. and German intelligence experts are scheduled to start talks on Monday over the NSA spying allegations that, according to European officials, may endanger a key trade agreement between the U.S. and the EU.
The US had previously downplayed the criticisms by European leaders by describing the surveillance activities as not “unusual,” but on Wednesday President Barack Obama called German chancellor Angela Merkel to assure her “that the United States takes seriously the concerns.”
(T/P09/E1).
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).
