The National Security Agency has turned Germany into its most important base of operations in Europe, according to a story published by Der Spiegel this week. […] The German magazine reports that documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden “paint a picture of an all-powerful American intelligence agency that has developed an increasingly intimate relationship with Germany over the past 13 years while massively expanding its presence.” The magazine adds, “No other country in Europe plays host to a secret NSA surveillance architecture like the one in Germany… In 2007, the NSA claimed to have at least a dozen active collection sites in Germany.”
The story also delves into the growth of facilities that house the NSA’s Special Collection Service, which is a joint operation with the CIA to collect targeted communications. There are more than 80 SCS stations around the world, and the Snowden documents indicate two sites are located in Germany—in the U.S. consulate in Frankfurt, and the U.S. embassy in Berlin, which is where the SCS is believed to have recorded Chancellor Merkel’s phone calls. […]
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/06/17/germany-nsas-largest-listening-post-europe/