“This information comes from documents marked as 'secret' or 'top secret.' That is why I am not in a position to openly comment on these rebukes or issues,” the minister said in a statement obtained by RIA Novosti.
De Maiziere stressed that he is interested in openly responding to the accusations in front of the authorized bodies.
"They are not true, and this also appears from the documents. That is why I am ready to exhaustively inform authorized parliament’s bodies on what I know and remember."
Thomas de Maiziere helped oversee the German foreign intelligence agency in 2005-2009, when he served as chief of staff at the Chancellor’s office.
Last week, German media reported that the Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service BND had allegedly been spying on European targets upon requests from the NSA. The reports said that the US agency had passed a list of some 800,000 IP addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses to the BND for monitoring, some of them belonged to European politicians and companies.
In 2013, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed US vast extensive internet and phone surveillance program, prompting privacy concerns. Snowden also revealed that NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
