Germany’s secret service has systematically been spying on its allies and organisations worldwide, according to a report in the German weekly, Der Spiegel.
"The BND (German external intelligence agency) spied systematically on its 'friends' around the world, including the US Department of the Interior and governments including those in Poland, Austria, Denmark and Croatia," according to the newspaper.
In recent months, Der Spiegel and other German media reported that the BND spied on allies on its own initiative and at the request of its US counterpart, the National Security Agency.
German snoops have been spying on the US delegation at the EU in Brussels and at the United Nations in New York.
Not content with this, Germany authorised spying on the US Department of Treasury and several foreign embassies in Germany including the US, French, British, Swedish, Portuguese, Greek, Spain, Italian, Austrian, Swiss and Vatican.
Embassies and consulates are not covered by Article 10 of the German Basic Law which protects German citizens from being spied on.
Non-governmental organisations such as Oxfam and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva also have been the focus of BND’s illicit activities.
German secret service personnel also have been accused by Der Spiegel of wiretapping, at the request of America’s National Security Agency, officials from France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the office of the French Presidency and of the European Commission.
In 2013, information about the tapping of Angela Merkel’s mobile phone by US secret service agents created understandable tension between Berlin and Washington.
"Spying on friends is not correct," said Merkel at the time.
How she now will deal with her Foreign Ministry, which is in charge of the activities of Germany’s secret service agents, remains to be seen.
