NSA collecting EU economic data: Analyst

The US National Security Agency (NSA) is spying on the European Union (EU) in order to gather economic data for American corporations, an analyst tells Press TV.

“They seem to have vast spy targets that they are monitoring and are collecting data on that range of governmental agencies to non-government agencies; from espionage centers to non-espionage centers; [from] the Israelis to the EU,” Danny Schechter said on Sunday.

“[The wide range of organizations targeted by NSA spying activities] suggests that there is an economic target here not just a political target. And that’s what’s really important for us to realize,” he added.

American whistleblower Edward Snowden has revealed documents showing that the US and British intelligence agencies have spied on the United Nations bodies, as well as a number of European officials.

The collection of documents showed that Britain’s spy agency, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and its American counterpart, the NSA, had targeted senior European Union officials, charitable arms of the United Nations (UN) and some non-governmental organizations.

According to the classified documents, UN agencies like the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), as well as a large number of diplomatic missions to the UN in Geneva were on the target list.

Other targets included former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, European Commission Vice President Joaquin Almunia, German government buildings, and French Defense contractor, Thales Group.

“Once again it seems like Edward Snowden is the American media man of the year because he is generating more news than any one person,” said Schechter.