MOSCOW, May 22 (RIA Novosti) – The US National Security Agency has been spying on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) by authority of the White House, Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported Thursday, citing a German journalist acquainted with documents released by Edward Snowden.
According to Die Presse, senior Der Spiegel correspondent Holger Stark obtained access to classified NSA data revealing the goals of the agency’s surveillance activities, with the OSCE marked as one of the targets.
The report said that the intelligency agency snooped on OSCE foreign policy and looked for information related to arms and trade control issues. Reports concerning weaponry were rated as a third-level priority meaning they were later handed over to the US Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State.
In his comments, Stark also stressed that Vienna is a key city for NSA spying activities, as it hosts not only the OSCE headquarters, but also offices of many other international organizations.
“There is ample evidence that NSA’s priority targets along with international organizations are Russia’s, China’s and Iran’s embassies,” the journalist said.
Snowden, a former NSA security contractor, is famous for leaking information last year about the extensive electronic surveillance programs conducted by the US government around the globe.
He released a cache of classified documents to journalists last summer that described US government internet surveillance programs, including eavesdropping on American citizens.
The revelations have sparked domestic controversy and strained relations between the US and its allies.
