According to a European media survey published on Sunday, the Danish intelligence service helped the US National Security Agency (NSA) spy on top European politicians, such as the German chancellor Angela Merkel and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, according with Deutsche Welle.
The revelation that the US was spying on its allies first surfaced in 2013, but this time journalists were able to access reports revealing intelligence support Defense of Denmark to NSA.
According to the new poll, Peer Steinbrueck, the then candidate of the center-left party (SPD), was also a target.
The information on the extent of the spying were passed on by intelligence sources to a group consisting of Danish, Swedish and Norwegian broadcasters (DR, SVT and NRK respectively), as well as the French newspaper Le Monde, the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung, and German public broadcasters NDR and WDR.
What role did the Danish government play?
The Danish government was well aware of the involvement of its country 's intelligence service in the NSA scandal since 2015.
After his revelations Edward Snowden, began gathering information about FE's cooperation with the NSA between 2012 and 2014 on the confidential report Dunhammer, according to NDR.
The data obtained showed that FE had helped the NSA spy on high-level politicians in Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, France, and Germany.
The Danish intelligence service also assisted the US intelligence service in tracking down the Danish Foreign Ministry, the Treasury Department, and a Danish arms manufacturer.
When the Danish government discovered the extent of cooperation between the two nations' intelligence services, it ordered the resignation of the entire FE leadership in 2020.