EU parliament calls for suspension of US info-sharing

(ANSA) – Brussels, October 23 – The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a non-binding resolution calling for the suspension of an anti-terrorism financial information-sharing agreement with the United States, in response to alleged wiretapping of EU citizens made with the aid of the SWIFT money-transfer database.

The resolution comes after the French newspaper Le Monde’s report on NSA tapping millions of French phone conversations and reports of NSA eavesdropping on other countries including Italy.

Italian Premier Enrico Letta and US Secretary of State John Kerry agreed in Rome Wednesday that NSA activities should be “reviewed”.

US Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper issued a rebuttal of Le Monde’s report. In a statement, he said: “Recent articles published in the French newspaper Le Monde contain inaccurate and misleading information regarding U.S.

foreign intelligence activities. “The allegation that the National Security Agency collected more than 70 million ‘recordings of French citizens’ telephone data’ is false.

“While we are not going to discuss the details of our activities, we have repeatedly made it clear that the United States gathers intelligence of the type gathered by all nations.

“The U.S. collects intelligence to protect the nation, its interests, and its allies from, among other things, threats such as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

“The United States values our longstanding friendship and alliance with France and we will continue to cooperate on security and intelligence matters going forward.

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