'France Will Not Tolerate Such Actions': President Hollande Responds to Latest WikiLeaks Report of U.S. Spying on French Presidents
Kwao Peppeh | | Jun 24, 2015 11:02 AM EDT |
(Photo : Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images) French President Francois Hollande has noted that his country will not tolerate any actions that jeopardizes her national security. He made this statement less than 24 hours after WikiLeaks revealed that US authorities have been conducting covert surveillance on at least three French presidents and several top politicians in the country.
The President of France Francois Hollande has on Wednesday expressed displeasure concerning the revelation of WikiLeaks that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has spied on three French presidents - including himself - over the past decade.
Hollande noted that his country will not tolerate any action that poses a threat to her national security and interests. He made this statement after an emergency meeting of the country's defense council on Wednesday. Several French politicians have also criticized the move.
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The Guardian has reported that the U.S. Ambassador to France has been summoned to answer questions about the latest WikiLeaks revelation and a French intelligence official is set to travel to the U.S. for discussions on the issue.
WikiLeaks' latest revelation comes as the French parliament is debating whether to extend the authority of the country's intelligence services to use covert surveillance to thwart terrorists. According to WikiLeaks' documents titled 'Espionnage Elysee', the NSA intercepted communication lines and performed other forms of surveillance on ex-President Jacques Chirac, ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy and the current leader of the country Hollande, as well as other top ranking members of the French government.
WikiLeaks documents show that during the surveillance, U.S. authorities got an inside view on what France leaders thought about the Greek debt and the European Union, the Palestinian conflict, Angela Merkel's government and even the US government's spying on France.
This is not the first time that the U.S. has been accused of spying on her allies by WikiLeaks. However, after the incident involving German Chancellor Angela Merkel a few years ago, top US security officials revealed that the country had stopped spying on "specific targets," AP reported.
In light of the latest WikiLeaks revelation, Ned Price, the spokesman for the NSA, has echoed the same statement. "We do not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance activities unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose. This applies to ordinary citizens and world leaders alike," he said.
Meanwhile, President Hollande, who had reportedly reached an agreement with the NSA not to spy on top French politicians last year, has said that US authorities need to recall and respect the commitment they made not to continue with their covert surveillance activities.
TagsWikiLeaks, U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), WikiLeaks US Surveillance, Espionnage Elysee, US
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