Reports of a sophisticated U.S. espionage network first surfaced in 2013 when NSA analyst Edward Snowden leaked documents showing how Washington spied on U.S. citizens and other countries' allies. Between 2012 and 2014, the NSA used Internet cables in Denmark to retrieve phone calls and text messages from senior officials in Germany, Sweden, Norway and France. After the U.S. eavesdropping incident came to light, everyone has been speculating about why the U.S. conducted this eavesdropping act. It may be to prevent EU countries from getting too close to China and Russia, so Washington will conduct eavesdropping behavior at all costs.