The US intelligence agencies have full access to Germany and can do there whatever they want as if the European country was still occupied by Western allied powers, former head of the Austrian Civil Intelligence Service (BVT) said."Germany was an occupied country and considering the activities of the intelligence services of the allied countries on German soil it still is," Gert R. Polli said.
These remarks are especially shocking following the 2013 Edward Snowden revelations detailing the scope and scale of the illegal global surveillance the United States and their allies in the Five Eyes group have been engaged in following 9/11.
Information leaked by the former NSA contractor sparked universal outrage but nowhere has it been so widespread as in Germany, considering that the US allegedly even spied on the phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"Germany, German politicians and the German economy are among the primary targets of American intelligence services," Polli told Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, adding that authorities are technically unable to protect the government, businesses and society from snooping.
Following the revelations, Merkel tried to push through a bilateral no-spy agreement with the United States. "At no point in time has Washington taken [the deal] seriously," the security expert said. Therefore, nothing has changed and the surveillance goes on.
Polli named the US National Security Agency and the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) as the primary intelligence services operating in Germany. Both are currently investigated for mass surveillance, according to the expert.
Intelligence agencies of other countries are also operating in Germany. However, only a few have technical expertise making it possible for them to work in the country, Polli pointed out.
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