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The U.S. ambassador to the French Foreign Ministry in Paris has been summoned to appear before angry French leaders to answer for a WikiLeaks claim that the United States spied on three of its presidents.
The summons comes as WikiLeaks published documents indicating the United States actually wiretapped the previous three presidents of France – including President Francois Hollande.
Ambassador Jane Hartley is due to appear at the ministry on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
Hollande, meanwhile, called the report “unacceptable” and went into emergency session with security agents and lawmakers, USA Today said.
A spokesman for the French government, Stephane Le Foll, also said Hollande is tasking the country’s top intelligence coordinator to the United States to make sure vows made in 2013 and 2014 – after it was revealed the National Security Agency was spying on several overseas sources – were still intact.
“As a general matter, we do not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance activities unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose,” said National Security Council spokesman Ned Price, USA Today reported. “This applies to ordinary citizens and world leaders alike.”
WikiLeaks documents indicates the United States spied on Nicolas Sarkozy, Jacques Chirac and Hollande, and specifically targeted discussions surrounding the eurozone economic policy.
