Germany’s BND spied on Greek Embassy as well as others, Spiegel reports

The Greek Embassy in Germany was among the foreign representations spied on by the country’s foreign intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), according to a report in Der Spiegel magazine on Saturday.

The publication claimed it was informed by unnamed sources that the extent of snooping by the BND was broader than had been reported last month.

“Since October’s revelations, it has emerged that the BND spied on the United States Department of the Interior and the interior ministries of EU member states including Poland, Austria, Denmark and Croatia,” said the magazine’s online international edition.

“In Germany, the BND’s own selector lists included numerous foreign embassies and consulates. The e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and fax numbers of the diplomatic representations of the United States, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Portugal, Greece, Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and even the Vatican were all monitored in this way,” Der Spiegel added.

Diplomatic facilities are not covered under Article 10 of Germany’s constitution, the Basic Law, which protects German telecommunications participants from such surveillance, the magazine said.

German Justice Minister Heiko Maas called last month for tighter control of the national foreign intelligence agency, after media reported its spies had targeted the embassies of allied countries without the government’s express permission.

Der Spiegel’s online edition and public broadcaster ARD reported that BND officials spied on embassies and other government buildings of allies such as France and the United States through so-called “selectors” such as names and Internet addresses.