German intel agency helped U.S. spy on top French officials: report

PanARMENIAN.Net - Germany's national intelligence agency, the BND, spied on top French officials and the EU's headquarters on behalf of U.S. intelligence, according to BBC News.

The leaks from a secret BND report suggest that its monitoring station at Bad Aibling spied on France's presidential palace and foreign ministry, and the European Commission.

The U.S. National Security Agency also allegedly spied on some European firms.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere denies claims of a cover-up.

The BND reportedly collected information on European firms at Washington's behest to check if they were breaking trade embargos.

According to reports, the BND did not target German or U.S. officials in the surveillance, as they are protected by a BND-NSA agreement signed in 2002.

However, it has emerged that the German government knew about NSA spying on European arms businesses as early as 2008. The government found "shortcomings" in the BND's operations, German TV reports.

De Maiziere denies having had any knowledge of malpractice at German intelligence. But he called for the internal BND report to be presented to a parliamentary committee, "the sooner the better".

The huge scale of NSA surveillance in Europe - including joint spying operations with the UK's GCHQ - was revealed in 2013 by U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden.