Oslo — Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said Thursday that the United States had assured that it had stopped espionage against its allies in 2014 after Oslo began protesting the practice.
She said Norway had summoned a US ambassador after reports that the US National Security Agency had used a partnership with a Danish foreign intelligence agency to spy on senior officials, including herself.
NATO member states Norway and Denmark are close allies of the United States. Denmark has several major landing points for submarine internet cables to Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
“We are pleased that Americans have changed their practices regarding ally surveillance in 2014 and have made it clear that they will work with us and other countries to understand what happened,” Solberg said. I told the NTB.
Defense Minister Frank Bake Jensen said on Twitter that the ministry had met with the US embassy in Oslo and “revealed that spying on allies was unacceptable and unnecessary.”
There was no immediate comment from the US Embassy.
Solberg said he also spoke with Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen on the matter on Thursday.
“I repeatedly told her that spying on close friends and allies was unacceptable and considered unnecessary,” she said.
Danish state broadcaster DR reported on Sunday that the NSA used a Danish information cable to spy on senior officials from Sweden, Norway, France and Germany, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.