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Belgium, Netherlands investigate claims of Germany spying for US

30 May 2015 03:44 (UTC +04:00)

"A probe has been opened" into the allegations, Dutch government spokesman Ward Bezemer told AFP on Friday.

Belgium's Telecoms Minister Alexander de Croo also said in a Friday statement, "If it should emerge that the reports of wide-scale eavesdropping by the German secret services are correct, Germany will have to provide an explanation.”

Leaked secret documents published by German media suggest that German intelligence agency Bundesnachrichtendienst, known by its acronym BND, has been carrying out illegal spying activities on behalf of the US National Security Agency (NSA) since 2002.

On April 27, Germany’s Bild daily reported that the country was spying on European companies on behalf of the NSA.

On April 30, a report surfaced that the BND had helped the NSA carry out "political espionage" on high-ranking French officials and the European Commission.

Germany has also launched two parliamentary inquiries regarding the spying claims. German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated on May 4 that she would fully cooperate with a parliamentary investigation committee probing the accusations.

Members of the opposition in the German parliament have harshly criticized the government for the alleged spy activities, demanding clear explanations and more information on the issue.

The scandal is also gaining momentum in Europe, where outraged lawmakers from countries that reportedly fell victim to German spies have called on Berlin to cooperate with the European allies instead of collaborating with the US spy agency.

"German authorities should cooperate with their European partners and not with the NSA," said Peter Pilz, an Austrian member of the European Parliament.

"We have to change Germany's focus in terms of intelligence cooperation, we have to bring them back to Europe," he added.

In 2013, Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, blew the whistle on the agency, suggesting Washington had been conducting massive Internet and phone data spying on “friendly countries and their leaders,” including Germany.