Brussels, 19/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - "We have detected a number of telephone bugging devices" at the Council of the EU, explained the head of the Council of the European Union's press department, Dominique Marro, to reporters on Wednesday, in reference to an article published in the French newspaper Le Figaro the same day. The discovery was made "a few days ago" during a regular buildings inspection by the security department, said Marro, adding that France and Germany were not the only countries targetted (as the French paper had reported). He said he was unable to reveal which other country(ies) were also bugged. All that is known is that neither Council Secretary General Javier Solana nor his deputy Pierre de Boissieu nor military officers are being tapped.
We're not talking about a haemorrhage, the building is not bristling with microphones, said Marro, pointing out that the bugs had been placed on the Council's switchboard. An investigation is being carried out to find out who is responsible for the bugging but the head of the press department refused to confirm that information reported in Le Figaro that the Belgian police had discovered that the United States was behind the phone tapping.
Christina Gallach, Javier Solana's spokesperson, also refused to confirm whether this information was true, saying it was too early to say but this did not pose any questions with regard to the organisation of the European Summit on Thursday and Friday of this week.
Although the press department has known about the bugging for several days, the Presidency and France were not informed of the matter until Wednesday morning. They both naturally condemned the bugging. While the investigation is being carried out various questions remain to be answered. Apart from France and Germany, which other countries were being bugged? Was it an inside or an outside job? How long had the bugs been in place? Has building security really been stepped up in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks as foreseen?