Spain gave Huawei the storage of judicial telephone listeners. Now the United States and the EU have questions

The Interior Ministry He awarded Huawei A contract of 12.3 million euros to store judicial telephone interceptions. How could it be otherwise, this agreement has jumped the alarms in Washington and has asked to review the intelligence exchange agreements with Spain. Brussels on the other hand also shows his concern for the decision.

What happened. Spain has renewed a contract with Huawei worth 12.3 million euros so that its Ocenostor servers 6800V store the telephone listeners of the Sitel System, used by the State Security Forces. These are interceptions with judicial authorization, not espionage operations. The government defends that it is a stagnant system, without exterior connection, where Chinese technology represents only a minor part of the set.

Why alarm to the United States. The presidents of the American Congress and Senate Intelligence Committees, Tom Cotton and Rick Crawford, have sent a letter to the National Intelligence Director asking to review the agreements Information exchange with Spain. They fear that any data shared with Spanish services can end up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, since Huawei is subject to Beijing National Security Laws. His argument is that this could allow China to monitor Spanish research on Chinese spies and other intelligence activities of an NATO ally.

Europe shows concern. The European Commission also shows misgivings for the Spanish decision. Several sources recognize that They do not understand the contract And they remember that the EU has evaluated Huawei as a “high risk” supplier. From Brussels insist in that “the cheapest offer is not always the best” and stress that security should be evaluated in any public procurement, even if it is not the most economical option.

The Chinese answer. Beijing has entered the rag to Defend Huawei. The spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Spain has described American criticisms as “a typical bullying act” and ensures that it is another example of how Washington “generalizes the concept of national security, politicizes commercial issues and imposes a perverse blockade against Chinese companies.” China defends that Huawei complies with European legislation and asks the United States not to entrust in commercial agreements between its government and Spain.

A case with contradictions. Curiously, Spain has already banned Huawei Participate in the deployment of 5G following the guidelines of Brussels and Washington when the whole issue broke out a few years ago, but it seems that it still maintains contracts with the Chinese company as in this case. The European Commission itself, which warned about the “high -risk suppliers”, never extended its veto to this type of applications. Huawei argues that its hardware is simply common flash storage that meets national security regulations and does not have access to customer data.

What can happen now. The Spanish government has activated diplomatic channels to reassure Washington about system safety. Several experts have interpreted the American reaction as a “overacting.” Enrique Dans, Professor of Innovation at IE Business School, emphasize that “the question to be asked here is who points out with the finger. The United States themselves that today cross out Spain of irresponsible, accusing it of disloyalty, are those that threaten tariffs of more than 20%.” It remains to be seen if this episode will affect the relationship between the two countries in terms of intelligence.

Cover image | Spanish Advocacy and Raw Pixel

In Xataka | Huawei states that he is staying behind the chips. It is just what we want us to create