Revelations about U.S. National Security Administration operations targeting the nation of Germany and highest-level institutions of the European Union, reported in Germany's Der Spiegel late Friday, have provoked a storm of reactions and demands for an adequate response from Washington, from Berlin and other European capitals. The revelations come from documents released by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

"If the media reports are accurate, this recalls the methods used by enemies during the Cold War," German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger stated in Berlin today, Deutsche Presse Agentur reported. This is a strong statement, considering that divided Germany was kept at the center of such operations for 45 years.

A state that uses Stasi methods sacrifices all credibility as a moral authority.

"It defies comprehension that our friends in the United States look at Europeans as enemies," she said. "There has to finally be an immediate and comprehensive explanation from the US as to whether media reports about completely unacceptable surveillance measures of the US in the EU are true or not. Comprehensive spying on Europeans by Americans cannot be allowed."

Spiegel reported on June 29 that Germany has been a significant target of the NSA's global surveillance program, with some 500 million communication connections being monitored every month. The documents show that the NSA is more active in Germany than in any other country in the European Union. This level of surveillance is on the same scale that the NSA uses against China or Iraq. Surveillance is reportedly highest on such days as Christmas Eve and - for whatever reason - January 7, when nearly 60 million communication connections were under surveillance in Germany.

Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger added tartly that "It is hardly possible for the U.S. to explain its spying on the EU offices in Brussels and Washington by the argument that NSA operations are intended to fight terrorism" — a comment omitted from most English-language coverage. She said that the U.S. side must immediately and fully clarify whether the media reports about NSA operations are true. Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger was earlier Justice Minister in the government of Helmut Kohl from 1992-96.

For obvious reasons, reaction to the revelations is strongest in Germany, as the foremost target of NSA operations in Europe. The German Federal Prosecutors' Office issued a statement today that it is looking at whether the reported NSA surveillance programs broke German law. It is looking at the allegations to "achieve a reliable factual basis" before considering whether a formal investigation is warranted.

The Spiegel revelations will likely become an issue in the critical upcoming national elections in Germany. SPD leading candidate Peer Steinbrück has called on Chancellor Angela Merkel to investigate the allegations. "The government must clear up the facts as quickly as possible," Steinbrück told Spiegel.online. "If the accusations are confirmed, it would go far beyond legitimate security concerns. That would mean that friends and partners were spied on. That would be completely unacceptable."

European Parliament President Martin Schulz, who is German, said today that "We need more precise information. But if it is true, it is a huge scandal. That would mean a huge burden for relations between the EU and the US. We now demand comprehensive information." He stated that "I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations. If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-U.S. relations. On behalf of the European Parliament, I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from the U.S. authorities with regard to these allegations."

Elmar Brok, a member of the CDU and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament, told Spiegel that "The spying has reached dimensions that I didn't think were possible for a democratic country. Such behavior among allies is intolerable." The US, he added, once the land of the free, "is suffering from a security syndrome. They have completely lost all balance. George Orwell is nothing by comparison." Another CDU European Parliament, Member, Markus Ferber, told Die Welt that a "democratic constitutional state that uses Stasi methods sacrifices all credibility as a moral authority. It has destroyed trust."

- Europe-wide Affair -

European Union institutions, as well as France, Luxembourg, and other nations, are also reacting strongly to the Spiegel reports. The European Commission issued a statement on Sunday, saying that the EU has "immediately been in contact with the U.S. authorities in Washington D.C. and in Brussels and have confronted them with the press reports. They have told us they are checking on the accuracy of the information released yesterday and will come back to us."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that "These acts, if confirmed, would be completely unacceptable." Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn also sharply questioned the NSA's moviations: "If these reports are true, then this is abhorrent. It would seem that the secret services have gotten out of control. The US should monitor their own secret services rather than their allies." He said that such spying is a breach of trust. "The US justifies everything as being part of the fight against terrorism. But the EU and its diplomats are not terrorists. We need a guarantee from the very highest level that it stops immediately."

Guy Verhofstadt, former Belgian prime minister and currently head of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, was quoted in Spiegel: "This is absolutely unacceptable and must be stopped immediately. The American data collection mania, shown publicly with SWIFT and hidden with Prism, has achieved another quality by spying on EU officials and their meetings. Our trust is at stake."

- Bugs Everywhere -

The U.S. National Security Administration has been running targeted surveillance of European Union representatives in the U.S. and Brussels, Spiegel.online reported June 29, based on secret documents and slides obtained by Edward Snowden. The NSA not only bugged the EU representations in Washington and at the United Nations, but also ran online surveillance of European citizens and specifically targeted buildings housing highest-level European Union institutions. Spiegel.online reported that it had seen parts of secret documents, including a "top secret" 2010 document, describing how the NSA surveillance gave it access to discussions in EU offices in both Washington and at the U.N., as well as emails and internal documents on computers.

In Brussels over five years ago, EU security officials traced attacks on the telecommunications system in the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, which houses the EU Council of Ministers and the European Council, to a special building at the NATO headquarters in Evere, near Brussels, that is used by the NSA.

Some EU officials are calling for the EU to pull back from negotiations on the Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA), which have been in preparation for years. The negotiations are to start next week.

Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a leader of the Green Party faction in the European Parliament, said that a "simple note of protest is not enough anymore. The EU must immediately suspend negotiations with the US over the [(TAFTA] free trade agreement." At a public meeting in Luxembourg, European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding also questioned the TAFTA negotiations. "Partners do not spy on each other," she said. "We cannot negotiate over a big trans-Atlantic market if there is the slightest doubt that our partners are carrying out spying activities on the offices of our negotiators. The American authorities should eliminate such doubt swiftly."

SPIEGEL ONLINE International announced it will publish the report in its entirety on Monday.