Danish former minister charged with revealing state secrets

By JAN M. OLSEN
Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Danish former defense minister who had publicly claimed that Denmark’s secret service helped U.S. intelligence spy on several European leaders says he has been charged with divulging state secrets. Denmark’s prosecution authority said Tuesday that the country’s justice minister has agreed to the recommendation that charges be brought against a former lawmaker, whom it did not name, for “divulging or passing on secrets of importance to the state.” In interviews in 2020 and 2021, former defense minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen alleged that Denmark’s foreign secret service had helped the NSA to eavesdrop on leaders in Germany, France, Sweden and Norway, including former German chancellor Angela Merkel.