"Europeans are furious", reported Spiegel Online. "Revelations that the US intelligence service National Security Agency (NSA) targeted the European Union and several European countries with its far-reaching spying activities have led to angry reactions from several senior EU and German politicians."
"We need more precise information," said EU Parliament President Martin Schulz. "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 demand comprehensive information."
"If these reports are true, then it is abhorrent", said Luxembourgian Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.
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.
German Minister for Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger:
It defies belief that our friends in the US see the Europeans as their enemies.
Elmar Brok, chairman of the EU Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee:
The spying has reached dimensions that I didn't think were possible for a democratic country. They have completely lost all balance. George Orwell is nothing by comparison.
Manfred Weber, deputy head and security expert for the European People's Party:
It is unacceptable when European diplomats and politicians are spied on in their day-to-day activities. Our confidence has been shaken.
German EU MP Markus Ferber:
A democratic constitutional state that uses Stasi methods sacrifices all credibility as a moral authority.
Former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt:
This is absolutely unacceptable and must be stopped immediately.
German Green Party representative in the European Parliament Jan Philipp Albrecht:
This is meltdown of the constitutional state.
Green Party floor leader in European Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit:
A simple note of protest is not enough anymore. The EU must immediately suspend negotiations with the US over a free trade agreement," he said. "First, we need a deal on data protection so that something like this never happens again. Only then can we resume negotiations.