American espionage activities are back in the spotlight after European news outlets reported that Denmark’s intelligence services helped the United States spy on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other top politicians in Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron is seen on a video screen during a joint press conference Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, as part of a virtual Plenary Session of the Franco-German Council of Ministers in Berlin. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, pool)
(CN) The U.S. National Security Agency spied on top European politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with the help of Denmark’s intelligence services between 2012 and 2014, according to European news reports.
THE DIRECTOR OF SWITZERLAND’S spy service will step down once his mandate ends in August, allegedly over a dispute with the country’s governing council about the Crypto AG affair, which shook Swiss politics last year.
THE DIRECTOR OF SWITZERLAND’S spy service will step down once his mandate ends in August, allegedly over a dispute with the country’s governing council about the Crypto AG affair, which shook Swiss politics last year. Jean-Philippe Gaudin headed Switzerland’s Military Intelligence Service from 2008 to 2015. He then served as a defense attaché at the Swiss embassy in Paris, France, before being appointed by the then-Defense Minister, Guy Parmelin as director of the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS). Founded in 2010, the FIS performs both domestic and external intelligence functions in the Alpine state.
But, according to reports in the Swiss media, Gaudin is not expected to continue in his post once his mandate ends, on August 31. The reason seems to be tensions within the Swiss government over the so-called Crypto AG affair. The scandal centers on the world’s leading manufacturer of cryptologic equipment during the Cold War, Crypto AG, whose clients included over 120 govern