Europe closed to Snowden

Hufvudstadsbladet

On July 2, Finland rejected Snowden’s application for political asylum, on the basis that he was not present on Finnish territory when it was submitted, reports Hufvudstadsbladet. Germany, Austria, Spain, Norway, Poland and Switzerland have also refused applications on the same basis.

Later in the day, a plane leaving Moscow and heading for Bolivia carrying the nation’s president, Evo Morales, was rerouted to Vienna, because France, Spain, Italy and Portugal, refused to let it cross their airspace, due to suspicions that the American was on board. Austrian and Bolivian authorities subsequently denied that he was on the aircraft.

Read this article in German.

Reprinted with permission of Presseurop.