France 'Trusts' Berlin to Investigate Spying Allegations
17:50 06.05.2015(updated 18:22 06.05.2015)
According to French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll, Germany can be trusted to carry out a parliamentary inquiry into the alleged spying on top French officials by its intelligence agencies at the behest of US National Security Agency (NSA).
PARIS (Sputnik) – Germany can be trusted to carry out a parliamentary inquiry into the alleged spying on top French officials by its intelligence agencies at the behest of US National Security Agency (NSA), French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said Wednesday.
'We trust the German government that it will take all the necessary action,' Le Foll told journalists, adding that, 'The Franco-German friendship will overcome… this news, which is yet to be confirmed.'
In mid-April, German media reported that the country's Federal Intelligence Service BND allegedly spied on European targets, including the European Commission, senior French officials and the European multinational aerospace and defense corporation Airbus Group, at the request of US intelligence.
The BND was reportedly in possession of a list of some 800,000 IP addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses for monitoring, given to it by the NSA.
On April 26, local newspaper Bild am Sonntag also said that German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere had been aware of US surveillance practices in the country since 2008, but failed to act. He is expected to speak on the issue in front of the Bundestag's Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, according to media reports.
The disclosure about Germany's eavesdropping on its neighbors prompted another target – Austria – to file a legal complaint over possible espionage on the country by the BND and NSA on Tuesday.
© Sputnik
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