France, Germany, and other European countries demanded answers Monday following reports that the US spied on its allies using Danish underwater cables, as questions mounted over whether Denmark knew about the operation.

In an investigative report on Sunday, Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) and other European media outlets said the US National Security Agency (NSA) had eavesdropped on Danish underwater internet cables from 2012 to 2014 to spy on top politicians in France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden.

The NSA got access to text messages, telephone calls, and internet traffic including searches, chats, and messaging services — including those of Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, then-foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and then-opposition leader Peer Steinbruck, DR said.

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French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday they expected explanations from both Washington and Copenhagen.

After the two leaders talked via video conference, Macron said, “This is not acceptable between allies and even less between allies and European partners. There is no room for suspicion.”

He said that they are waiting for complete clarity, from both Denmark and the US. Merkel said she “could only agree” with Macron’s comments, adding she was “reassured” by Danish Defence Minister Trine Bramsen’s condemnation of any such spying.

Bramsen, who took over the defense portfolio in June 2019, has neither confirmed nor denied DR’s report, but told AFP that “systematic eavesdropping of close allies is unacceptable”. Denmark’s neighbours also demanded explanations.

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DR said the NSA had taken advantage of a surveillance collaboration with Denmark’s military intelligence unit FE to eavesdrop. But it was unclear whether Denmark knew at the time that the US was using the cables to spy on Denmark’s neighbors.

AS of now, Denmark’s military intelligence unit refused to comment on the revelations, reported AFP. The US State Department and the NSA also declined requests from AFP to comment on the affair. However, US eavesdropping on European leaders is not new.

However, if the Danish-US spying is confirmed, it went on during and after the 2013 Snowden affair. According to DR, Bramsen was however informed of the spying in August 2020.

In November 2020, DR revealed that the US had used the Danish cables to spy on the Danish and European defense industries from 2012 to 2015. A month later, Denmark’s justice ministry ordered a commission of inquiry into FE’s operations. Its conclusions are due at the end of 2021.

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Snowden, who now lives in Russia, called on Twitter for “full public disclosure” from Denmark and the US.

The latest revelations are “new pieces of the puzzle,” Thomas Wegener Friis, an intelligence expert, and professor at the University of Southern Denmark told AFP.

“It’s exactly the same kind of scandal as the one with German services helping the Americans to spy a few years ago.”

Denmark is one of the United States’ closest European allies and sent troops to fight in Iraq. It is the only Nordic country that is both a member of NATO and the EU.