Israeli, other spyware ‘illegitimately’ used in EU states

'The abuse of spyware in EU member states is a grave threat to democracy on the entire continent'

Spyware was used "illegitimately" to conduct surveillance in at least four European Union countries - Greece, Spain, Poland, and Hungary - according to a draft report by the European Parliament presented Tuesday.

Much attention has been given to the Pegasus spyware program, created by the Israeli company NSO Group and sold to governments around the world. A multinational journalistic investigation last year revealed Pegasus had been used against human rights activists, politicians, journalists, and others.

"The abuse of spyware in EU member states is a grave threat to democracy on the entire continent," the lawmaker who led the work on the report, Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld, told a news conference.

The issue took on greater importance in the EU legislature as evidence has piled up of several countries - EU member states among them - using spyware planted on people's mobile phones to secretly monitor their communications.

Apart from Pegasus, other spyware programs were also mentioned in the report. In Europe, Greece's government has been caught out by allegations it used software called "Predator" to try to spy on the leader of the opposition.

That led to Greece's intelligence chief and a close aide to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis being forced to resign. Greek journalists have also taken legal action after determining they, too, were targeted by spyware.

Spain's spy chief was sacked in May for his role in a scandal embroiling the government over the hacking of mobile phones of politicians and Catalan separatist leaders.

In 't Veld said that in Poland and Hungary - two EU countries ruled by populist governments with policies that have been at odds with Brussels' view of the rule of law - "spyware is an integral element of a system... designed to control and even oppress the citizens."

She also noted that in Cyprus, more scrutiny was needed given indications spyware was being used there and that the country was alleged "the hub for exports of spyware."