‘Not acceptable.’ France asks US, Denmark for clarity on spying allegations 6park.com

French and German leaders speak out after claims that Denmark
helped the US NSA spy on European officials. 6park.com
  6park.com
PARIS
— France has asked the U.S. and Denmark for detail on their spying practices
after revelations that Danish secret agents may have helped Washington spy on
European politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 6park.com
“There’s
no space between us for suspicion, that’s why what we are waiting for is
clarity. We have asked our Danish and American partners to share all the
relevant information,” French President Emmanuel Macron said at a joint press
conference with Merkel on Monday afternoon. 6park.com
According
to reports by multiple European news outlets, Denmark’s secret services helped
the U.S. National Security Agency spy on European officials, including Merkel,
between 2012 and 2014. 6park.com
Macron
said France’s request concerned past spying practices but also current ones. 6park.com
“If
these revelations are correct, I want to say it is not acceptable among allies,
very clearly. It is even less acceptable among allies and European partners, so
I am attached to having ties between Americans and Europeans that are based on
trust,” Macron said. “There’s no space between us for suspicion.” 6park.com
Merkel
echoed Macron's comments at the press conference, held after a joint
French-German Cabinet meeting. 6park.com
“I
can only endorse the words of Emmanuel Macron," she said. "We have
already discussed these things a long time ago in connection with the NSA. Our
position in relation to the investigation of the issues at that time has not
changed. We rely on trusting relations and what was right then is right now. I
was reassured by the fact that Denmark, too — the Danish government, the
minister of defense — have made it very clear what they think of these things,
and in this respect, I see a good basis not only for clearing up the facts but
also for really establishing relations based on trust.” 6park.com
Danish
Defense Minister Trine Bramsen told public broadcaster DR that “systematic interception
of close allies is unacceptable.” 6park.com
American
President Joe Biden was vice president at the time of the reported spying. He
will meet with his European counterparts in mid-June for a series of
high-profile summits, starting with the G7 in the U.K., followed by a NATO
summit in Brussels and a U.S.-EU summit. 6park.com