Brussels: Electronic bugging devices have been found in offices used by six EU member-states at a Brussels building where European leaders will meet this evening, writes Denis Staunton, in Brussels
The devices, describes as "highly sophisticated", were discovered almost three weeks ago during a routine sweep by security staff at the Justus Lipsius building, headquarters of the EU Council of Ministers.
The bugs were found in telephone cabling in rooms used by French, German, British, Italian, Spanish and Austrian delegations during meetings of EU ministers. Devices were also discovered in rooms that were once used as offices but now serve other functions, such as storage rooms.
The French newspaper Le Figaro broke the story yesterday, saying that Belgian authorities are convinced that the US was behind the bugging. However, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, Mr Dominique-Georges Marro, said that, although an investigation was under way, it was not yet possible to say who was responsible.
"We have no evidence that it was the Americans but we also have none that it wasn't," he said.
A spokesman for the US mission to the EU said the mission had received no communication from the council about the investigation into the bugging.
The six countries whose delegation rooms were bugged were informed as soon as the discovery was made. It was not until Le Figaro reported the story that other member-states, including Greece, which holds the EU presidency, were informed.
The EU foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, who has offices in the building, first heard about the discovery yesterday, but he was told that no devices were found in his offices or those of the military staff in the building.
Sweden's EU ambassador, Mr Sven-Olaf Petersson, said after a briefing by council officials that the devices were found on February 28th, but there were indications that they may have been installed before the building was inaugurated in 1995.
"They were very sophisticated installations, we are told, which only a few intelligence services are able to install," he said.
There have long been concerns about security at the Justus Lipsius building, and NATO officials have refused to attend meetings there on the basis that the rooms were not secure. When Mr Solana moved into the building, he installed a number of "secure" rooms which are swept for listening devices.