Schulz ‘shocked’ by alleged US eavesdropping on EU diplomats President of European Parliament reacts to media reports that EU embassies in Washington and New York were bugged.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, today said he was “deeply worried and shocked" about allegations that US authorities spied on European Union offices.

The accusations, if proven true, would have a “severe impact” on transatlantic relations, Schulz warned.

“On behalf of the European Parliament, I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from the US authorities with regard to these allegations.”

The German newsweekly Der Spiegel reported today (29 June) that the National Security Agency – a US intelligence service primarily dealing with electronic surveillance – had placed devices in the offices of the EU’s embassies in Washington, DC, and New York.

The publication said that it had seen “parts” of documents dating from 2010 held by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the NSA who fled to Hong Kong in May and is believed to now be in Moscow.

Der Spiegel did not say how it had gained access to the documents, but one of the bylines on its report was that of Laura Poitras, a documentary filmmaker who had been contacted by Snowden ahead of his initial revelations about US spying.

Snowden revealed systematic eavesdropping by the NSA on phone and internet communications around the world, including in allied countries.

According to the documents cited by the magazine, the NSA had not only bugged the EU embassies in Washington, DC and New York but also gained access to their computer networks.

Another line of attack was through the telecommunications networks leading into the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, headquarters of the Council of Ministers and the European Council, where member states’ delegations keep their offices and where ministers and national leaders meet.

The magazine said that several missed calls to a remote telecoms maintenance facility were traced by counter-intelligence officials to offices in a secure part of NATO headquarters in Brussels used by the NSA.