New research shows that the Danish secret service apparently helped the U.S. foreign intelligence agency NSA to wiretap top European politicians. These include Angela Merkel, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Peer Steinbrück.
The revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the “spy affair” in early 2013. The outrage was great. For years, the U.S. foreign intelligence service NSA had spied on high-ranking European politicians.
In addition to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, numerous other top European politicians were affected. Danish politicians are also said to have been bugged. But now more details are coming to light.
New research shows that the Danish secret service, of all people, is said to have supported the NSA in its surveillance activities. It is also new that former SPD chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrück is said to have been affected.
This was the conclusion of an evaluation of intelligence sources by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) in cooperation with German media, such as NDR, WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung.
This is the role played by Danish intelligence
According to the report, the Danish military and foreign intelligence service Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste (FE) provided the NSA with the Sandagergårdan listening station near Copenhagen. According to the reports, the site is a hub of significant submarine cables that the NSA has been able to tap in the meantime.
According to the Dunhammer Report, a Danish intelligence report that has been kept secret to this day, the Danish government has known about the surveillance of its European neighbors since 2015.
However, both the German government and former SPD chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrück said they had no knowledge of the FE’s involvement until now.
In return for the use of the Danish infrastructure, the NSA had given the FE the spy software XKeyscore. According to intelligence sources, the intelligence services in turn used the same software for surveillance.
Danish intelligence taps its own government
As early as 2020, it became known that the Danish intelligence service had cooperated with the NSA and illegally wiretapped its own government members. The NSA apparently spied on the Danish foreign and finance ministries as well as a defense company. The head of the intelligence service at the time, Thomas Ahrenkiel, was subsequently removed from office.
Ironically, the Dunhammer Report documents show that Denmark not only helped the NSA in its spying activities, but also became a target of surveillance itself.
