Austrian interior minister confronts German counterpart over spying allegations

Austrian Minister of the Interior Johanna Mikl-Leitner confronted her German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere over spying allegations via phone call, it was revealed Wednesday.

The issue, currently subject to considerable debate in the Austrian parliament, stems from suspicions the German intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), had been secretly obtaining sensitive Austrian data for a period of up to years which it had been passing on to the U.S. intelligence service the NSA.

Kronen Zeitung newspaper reported that Mikl-Leitner confronted de Maiziere with the allegations first put forward by Austrian Greens Party politician Peter Pilz and other European Greens party members that data lines from Vienna, Linz, and Salzburg that passed through Frankfurt were tapped by BND spies, including alleged proof that it occurred.

De Maiziere reportedly told Mikl-Leitner during the phone call on Monday that he is willing to justify himself regarding the allegations, but that he had "no knowledge" of any such activity having occurred between the BND and the NSA.

The claims suggest the illicitly-obtained data passed on to the NSA includes economic and high-tech information as well as details regarding millions of bank accounts.

Mikl-Leitner has come under fire from numerous opposition parties in Austria, who accuse her of having attempted to minimize the situation, though the Interior Minister herself stated "naturally we are taking the allegations seriously." Endit