Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced on Friday that the US Ambassador to Madrid James Costos was summoned to provide explanation of the NSA’s espionage against his country.
The announcement by Rajoy came after Spanish media reports revealed that the NSA had spied on several governmental officials and politicians, including former Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero.
Earlier this week Germany and France summoned the US ambassadors to their countries after separate reports revealed that the NSA targeted the two European nations.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel took the decision on October 24 after Berlin received information that the NSA spied on the leader's cellphone conversations.
Merkel demanded “an immediate and comprehensive explanation” from Washington, saying that if the spying reports were confirmed it “would be a grave breach of trust. Such practices must cease immediately.”
On October 21, France decided to summon US ambassador to Paris after a report disclosed that the NSA secretly taped more than 70 million phone conversations in France over a 30-day period earlier this year as well as targeted certain high-profile French political and business individuals.
France’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls has described the spying revelations as “shocking.”
Germany, France as well as several other countries have voiced concerns about US spying after American surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed classified information about the US surveillance programs.
Snowden, who was granted political asylum in Russia on August 1, has been charged in the United States with espionage and theft of government property after leaking documents that revealed the NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have been secretly gathering information of people in both the US and all around the world.