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At least two employees at the US embassy in Madrid have been quietly expelled from Spain on suspicion of recruiting agents from the country's National Intelligence Center (CNI) to obtain highly classified information, El Pais reported on Thursday, citing government sources.
According to the newspaper, two Spanish intelligence officers were arrested two months ago after an internal inspection revealed that they had gained access to classified information that was not required for their work and which they had no right to know.
The investigation found that at least one of them had been bribed by US agents. The incident has not been made public as a Spanish court has ordered the case kept secret.
US agents are believed to have begun recruiting the officers more than a year ago, El Espanol reported.
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles summoned the US ambassador in Madrid, Julissa Reynoso, and asked for an explanation. The diplomat said she was unaware of what had happened, apologized and promised to cooperate with the investigation as much as possible, according to El Pais.
The Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs agreed on the discreet expulsion of at least two US staff involved in the recruitment and bribery of CNI agents, as Washington hastened to withdraw them, the article reported.
"The recruitment of secret agents of the host state to betray their own country is considered an openly hostile action," the newspaper detailed, noting that the occasions when Spain refuses to share information of interest to Washington "are counted between one and none" and it is unclear why the US had to pay when they "get everything they ask for."
This is not the first time the US has been suspected of spying on its allies. In 2013, an international scandal erupted after former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden leaked information about Washington's eavesdropping on former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Two years ago, Reuters reported that in addition to tapping Merkel's phone, the US National Security Agency (NSA) had allegedly spied on senior officials in Sweden, Norway, France and Germany using Danish information cables.
Comment: Original title: EU State expels US embassy staff - El Pais The sources for the Spanish articles are: from El Pais, and from El Espanol.
Considering the statements: One may ask if the issue is that Spain does not share everything as alleged, or whether the US intelligence agencies are so compartmentalized that what is known in one quarter is not known in the next, and somebody who felt they were left out of the loop did their own ground work?
Apart from the little stomach upset in Madrid, many other US initiatives are swallowed without any upset by EU and NATO countries.
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The Crusades: Germany's Obedience to America's 'Papal Primacy'
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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland says Washington has spent $5 billion trying to subvert Ukraine
Loony Nuland fumes over Minsk agreement, gives instructions to 'fight against the Europeans'
"F**k The EU" - U.S. State department blasts Europe; revealed as alleged mastermind behind Ukraine unrest
An important second listen to the "F--k the EU" Ukraine recording
'F**k the EU': Nuland's decade-old Maidan quip has never been more true
The list could go on and on; it is only a matter of recalling events and searching for the articles. Not that such an effort makes much of a difference, but it may help to keep things in perspective, next time a news item surfaces.