What hides the symbiosis between US and Danish intelligence
Secret cooperation between Danish and American intelligence agencies has allowed the United States to gather information on some of its closest European allies. The in-depth analysis by Giuseppe Gagliano
According to a new report, covert cooperation between Danish and American intelligence agencies has allowed the United States to gather information on some of its closest European allies. Countries affected include Germany, France, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands, according to the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and Danmarks Radio, the Danish public service broadcaster. The two media say they spoke to "several independent sources" who confirmed the allegations.
The revelations appear to be linked to the surprise firing of Lars Findsen, director of the Danish Defense Intelligence Service (FE, or Ddis in English), in August of this year. It is reported at the time that Findsen was fired following a series of revelations. However, almost nothing has been released by the Danish government about the precise nature of the revelations. It was claimed that the revelations concerned "improper information gathering practices".
It now appears that whistleblowers' revelations concerned a secret intelligence gathering agreement concluded between the DDIS and the NSA in 2008.
According to the agreement, the NSA would help the DDIS to intercept a series of Internet fiber optic cables that pass through the Danish territory, in exchange for access to the content of the intercepted traffic.
This collaboration was physically facilitated at a data processing center located on the Danish island of Amager, south of the capital Copenhagen, which was to be built for this purpose.
In 2015, however, a Danish whistleblower approached the Danish Oversight Board, known as Tet, which is responsible for overseeing the work of Danish intelligence agencies. The whistleblower said Amager's data center had been used by the NSA to spy on Danish targets, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. Additionally, a list of keywords used by the NSA between 2012 and 2015 to report internet traffic allegedly suggests that the governments of Germany, France, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands were also targeted.
The revelation sparked heated political discussion in Denmark, while Norwegian, Swedish and Dutch authorities have launched investigations into the alleged espionage. Some in Denmark are now asking Defense Minister Trine Bramsen to release to the public a four-volume report produced by the Tet on the alleged Ddis-Nsa collaboration.
Beyond the apparent astonishment that this news may actually arouse, this information confirms what Edward Snowden explicitly stated in his essay "System Error" on the espionage that the US – and not only – make of the communications of their allies. On the other hand, relations between states are built on alliances and not on friendships. There are, and never will be, other alliances beyond those defined by interests.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/cosa-cela-la-cooperazione-segreta-tra-le-intelligence-danesi-e-usa/ on Thu, 19 Nov 2020 10:21:01 +0000.