ay the u.s. continue at least bite on the last three presidents. francois hollande slams the claims as acceptable. nato defense ministers deployed heavy arms and eastern europe. and the european union demands a nation as hungary stops accepting asylum-seekers. also coming up for you this hour, is greece's debt deal on the rocks? prime minister alexis tsipras lashes out at the imf as

european markets tumble. that is coming up in business at 15 past the hour, but first, our top stories. ♪ france has lashed out at the united states after new reports from wiki leaks said the nsa has spied on the last three french president. the whistleblowing website said the u.s. eavesdropped on current president francois hollande as well as in a car sarkozy -- nicolas sarkozy and jacques chirac. a top official is writing a trip to the u.s. to get to the bottom of the claim. nicholas rushworth has more. nicholas: wikileaks reveals off ration espionage police say --

espionage elysée, thing they listen to the phone calls of top french officials and the last three french president. q a major diplomatic embarrassment for the u.s. administration, that embarrassment is only beginning with wikileaks dropping more about nsa's spying on france, among the leaks, that nicolas sarkozy sought in snow about the financial -- sought intel about the financial crash he considered it his response ability to europe in the world to step up to the plate and resolve the world financial crisis. another one says francois hollande in 2012 believe the german chancellor angela merkel was fixated on the greek crisis. hollande claimed merkel had given up on greece and was unwilling to budge. wikileaks in 2013 alleged merkel herself had no u.s. confirmation

of that. there was a similar on france with the white house insisting it is not targeting hollande's communications and will not do so, but it is not to mention what might have been done in the past. the leaks have been timed to highlight the whole state spying and secrecy question with the french parliament due to pass a controversial security and surveillance bill this wednesday. >> the united states of america, barack obama. genie: wikileaks says that is not just french president two were spied on by the u.s. but also top french officials, and reaction here has been a sharp one. the president, friends wall on has slammed the report as i acceptable. >> the elysée spied for at least six years. friends while on set up an emergency -- francois hollande set up an emergency leading. in a statement, he says france will not tolerate any acts that threaten its security.

president hollande: these acts are acceptable. they are he led to a discussion between the united states and france in 2013 at a time of the first revelations. reporter: back then, it was revealed that the nsa had tapped the german chancellor's phone, sparking outrage among europe. allegedly eavesdropping on three french president, jacques chirac, nicolas sarkozy and francois hollande from 2006 22012. the french government demands an explanation. >> the french foreign affairs minister has summoned an abbasid or to the united states this afternoon. a senior intelligence if you -- official will also travel to the u.s. to discuss the commitments that have been agreed to between the u.s. and france. reporter: across the political spectrum, politicians slammed the allegations, saying allies should not spy on each other. >> barack obama should apologize

and follow a code of conduct. countries simply cannot do that sort of thing. reporter: you national security council insist the u.s. and will not target the communications of president hollande. as for the white house it refuses to comment on specific intelligence allegations. genie: francois hollande is now hosting crisis talks on the alleged spying claim. the group is meeting at the elysée presidential palace, and that is where douglas herbert is as well. talk us through the developments since the story first broke. douglas: yeah, you used the exact right words -- anger, a day indignation, also a sense of, "are you kidding me?" going on here. we've had a steady stream across the political spectrum in and

out of the french presidential palace behind me. it began in the morning right away with the defense counsel convening. the foreign minister, the defense of this or was absent -- he is in brussels, but the prime minister come everyone, all the presidents men, and basically they were trying to get answers about what the latest revelations mean, what is behind them how could it have happened, what are the consequences? they issued a hard-hitting statement afterward saying whatever happened is on a separable, especially in light of the fact that barack obama and u.s. officials gave the french a series of assurances, first in 2013, than one france wall on what to visit in february 2014, assurances that -- francois hollande went to visit if it were a 2014, assurances that they were not doing this, president obama even himself saying he would curtail spying, and now this. you have the parliamentarians meeting this hour. that is not the end of it. you have the u.s. ambassador

she has been summoned tonight to a meeting to presumably give her side of the story, what is going on here. that is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. local time. we have a separate announcement that the coordinator of intelligence, the french coordinator of intelligence is going to be dispatched on a special mission to the united states to be with his intelligence counterparts there to sit down, bang their heads together, and figure out what is going on here. i can guarantee the french are going to be looking for some answers. genie: doug, we have known about the nsa activities for several years, ever since they were first linked by edward snowden, the former nsa contractor. is there anyone there particularly at the presidential palace to is really surprised that the nsa is spying on other countries' leaders? douglas: yeah, you know, it is a tactic question, like that famous line from the movie "casablanca" -- "i am shocked

shocked that gatling is going on here." we have known since edward snowden first exposed the magnitude of the nsa surveillance drag net, if you will, both in the u.s. and internationally. we know this stuff is going on. i suppose we have the sense of what we were saying the ending dacian the indignation, the anger, this revelation brings it to a new level. if these documents are borne out, if they are genuine -- and there is no reason to believe they are not -- we are talking about phone tapping the phones of three french presidents. one the current french president. and a lot of their top advisers. listening in on their conversations, the content of that and that despite the time and again brock obama standing alongside -- barack obama standing alongside france wallois hollande, it does make you scratch your chin a little bit and say can you really be someone's ally and behave like this. as angela merkel revealed last

year after it was revealed that her phone has been cap, she said "friends do not spy on friends. that is not done your." i asked that the g summit one of france wallois hollande's advisers, is he going to meet with president obama on the summit, and they seemed a little surprised by the question, and as far as they knew, they said no, so it is an issue that seems to just eat surging up again, i will not say out of nowhere, but as taken everyone at least today by surprise, at least the magnitude of the latest revelations. genie: all right, doug thanks for that. that is doug herbert reporting from the l is elysée presidential palace. the u.s. will the ploy heavy weapons in central and eastern europe and this for the first time ever comes in the midst of the world's for standup of the cold war between russia and the u.s. that has been triggered by the crisis in eastern ukraine.

here is more now from u.s. defense secretary carter: american rotation or he forces need to move more quickly and easily to participate in training and exercises here. estonia as well as lithuania latvia, bulgaria, romania, and poland have agreed to host company to battalion-sized elements of an scrimmage which will be moved around the region for training and exercises. genie: now the european union is demanding an explanation from hungary over its suspension of a key eu rule on asylum-seekers. hungary said it will stop accepting refugees who have gone through its territory. budapest has already said it is thinking about building a fence along its border with serbia to keep the growing number of migrants out. kate moody has more. kate: arrested as they try desperately to reach europe. these migrants are among the

thousands who have illegally crossed into hungary, hoping to build a new life in the european union. on tuesday, budapest said it was cracking down on the tide of migration. the government unilaterally suspended in eu rule that would allow the country to take back asylum-seekers after traveling to other member states. the eu has asked for qualification of the unorthodox step. hungary has also attracted criticism for its plan to build a fence along its border with serbia, which serves as an entry point to europe. many migrants to have made it to the serbian side insist they will not be deterred by a four-meter high fence. the idea is being slammed as inefficient and immoral. >> we are against the creation of walls and fences. they can limit the access of people to a silent, and this is a universal human right that needs to be preserved. europe cannot simply hide behind walls. we need to correct this in the

world. kate: the asylum system has been overburdened and overlooked by the eu. >> the eu does not give the necessary regard to the migrant pressure coming to the western balkans. it needs to change immediately in the best interest of both hungary and europe. kate: authorities say as many as 60,000 illegal migrants have crossed into hungary in 2016 nearly double the total number last year. genie: meanwhile in the french port town of calle during the chaos surrounding that site, hundreds of migrants tried to jump on trucks bound for england. 300,000 people are estimated to be living around that area for a chance to cross the tunnel. many of the migrants crossing from north africa into europe are coming via libya. the eu has launched a new program now to curb human

trafficking in the mediterranean by planning to target people smugglers, but the official libyan government has lashed out at the eu saying it is ready to air strike vessels entering its waters. all right, let's go back to the elysée presidential palace where the parliamentarians are coming out of that emergency meeting with francois hollande following that release from wikileaks about the nsa spying on free pass french presidents. let's listen. [no audio] >> [speaking french]

genie: all right, sorry about that, we seem to be having a slight problem with our translation. we will get i continued in just a few moments' time, as soon as we can. meanwhile, let's go back now to libya where many evil smugglers along the coast there have taken advantage of the chaos that has hit the country since the fall of moammar gadhafi four years ago. "france 24" went to the capital, tripoli, now taken over by the militia alliance. their government is not recognized internationally, but it is asking for international help particularly to deal with the sharp increase of illegal immigration spilling over across the area. reporter: like every friday the support of the tripoli government meet at the square at the heart of the capital. libya's militia took over tripoli a most year ago. >> we are here to show our

support over the revolutionaries of the 17 of february. we are against terrorism, we reject it in all its arms, especially the islamic a group. reporter: the international community refuses to recognize the government libya set up in tripoli. for them the government is libya's only legitimate\ representation. the libya government insists it speaks for the people. >> we will never forget what the french did, and we still believe that france can do a lot peacefully, they can support the people on the ground. reporter: as many migrants journey through libya on their way to europe, france can force the international community to negotiate. many undocumented migrants were arrested and are now sitting inside of libya prisons. >> i'm from somalia.

i escaped from al-shabaab. we fled. reporter: tripoli is overwhelmed by the migrants and are calling for help. >> neighborhoods in the european union have cooperate with us they have to see us as earners without taking sides on libya's internal struggle, like certain european countries are doing. reporter: terrorism and illegal immigration are turning libya into a tom timebomb. the european union is calling to come to a political solution. genie: you are watching "france 24." let's take a look at top stories is that summoned the u.n. ambassador -- the u.s. ambassador after reports of the

u.s. spied on the last three french president. nato defense ministers meet in brussels after the u.s. says it will store heavy arms in eastern europe. and the european union demand the nation as hungry stops excepting asylum -- as hungary stops excepting asylum seekers. business news on "france 24" with our very own stephen carroll. lots of talks in the greek debt crisis. how close are we to a deal? stephen: much closer than yesterday. yesterday things were looking more optimistic, but the great run minister, alexis tsipras has lashed out at the monetary fund over the objections raised to the economic reform plan the one discussed in brussels. the plan relies too heavily on tax increases, not enough on spending cuts, and that hurt the greece economy even heard further. that is announced by a lot of banks conducting the analysis.

tsipras tweeted that the stance was odd and of they did not want a deal, they were serving a particular interest in greece. genie: that is bound to come up with mr. tsipras meets up with them today. stephen: ahead of a meeting with the eurozone finance ministers scheduled later today, and wall-to-wall meetings will continue, planned for tomorrow. early on, there were just two issues or three issues left in those discussions to be decided, although the head of the eurogroup said there was a lot of work left to do to avoid a greek default thing on that payment to the imf due next tuesday, of 1.6 billion euros. our correspondent in brussels said the deal on greece has to be done tonight, they have to keep going on that if they need to to get that agreement done ahead of the eu leaders summit. we also have prospect of another problem facing alexis tsipras

and that is at home and greece according to "the financial times," germany once the economic reform plan passed by the greek parliament as soon as possible, and that will serve problems because it is controversial even within the syriza party. genie: how have the markets been taking this? stephen: as you can imagine, they are not pleased. they are dipping into negative territory as comments from alexis tsipras were announced. london ftse 100 has rolled back somewhat since then. it has seen some small gains but you can see in athens shares are down by 2.5%. francois hollande coming backgenie: coming back to france telecom. stephen: the third-largest company refused a takeover from bouygues, the owner of sfr. chief executor martin boygues says his company can survive

alone. reporter: a reported 10 billion euro cash offer on the table telecom giant -- has looks to take over boygues. but it could lead to less competition and the lead to layoffs. in an effort to save the deal, meeting with the economy minister tuesday evening. >> i can tell you what happened. there are things being worked on that need to move forward that depend on several things. reporter: just minutes later boygues telecom issued a statement saying its board of directors were not entering into negotiations with the al tice group. on radio, the ceo of boygues said politics or sibling not a factor in the decision. >> there was not any political pressure.

i believe they left me the room to make the right choice, and in the end, it was not my choice it was the board's choice. reporter: a deal would have reduced the number of telecoms companies in france from four to three. that is in line with a shift toward consolidation in the european telecommunications sector. but boygues believes it can survive alone, despite being fed to lose money again in the first half of this year. genie: all right stephen, just to wrap up, how much does one have to earn in order to be considered rich here in france? stephen: this is a fantastic story, and french people have to earn less to be considered rich and france. as compared to before the financial races. the level they started out is 5000 euros per month after social security, adjusted, but before taxes. if you do the adjustments, that rules out at around 80,000 euros a year. that is why french will consider you are rigid you earn more than

80,000 euros a year grows. about 15,000 euros less than the level was in 2008. people think the estimation of richness has gone even lower. in terms of assets, half a million euros in assets, you are considered to be rich. genie: i guess it all depends on what you do with your money perhaps that makes the rituals that thank you for that, stephen carroll. it is time now for the press review. oliver farry is here with us on the set now to take a look at the french papers. hi oliver. particularly explosive story here in france. all of her: that is correct. the websites have collaborated with -- oliver: that is correct. the wikileaks websites have collaborated with -- wikileaks started it with a cartoon at the head of its page with the caption -- at least it thinks we are as important as the germans.

you also see the eiffel tower and a radio transmitter on top of it. genie: some small consolation there, "as important as the germans. oliver: yes, the news on the german chancellor came out first, three years ago. now, they have all had their phone calls tapped by the national security agency. the spying started in 2006 and continued until may 2012, just after francois hollande -- we do not know if the americans got bored once francois hollande got in there, it is possible they went after, but wikileaks does not know. the other call to not reveal any state secrets or any really big scoops, at least as of yet. they do testify to what it calls

an obsessive spying on france. "libération" has an editorial titled sibley called "distrust," and they talk about how it monitors and surprised few people. the editorial says there is a hell of a lot of difference between trying to find out what happened with france's program and actually tapping into the head of state. it also says that the americans are both friends and competitors, it seems that anything goes with the americans. genie: it does seem a bit of, "all is fair in love and war," doesn't it? oliver: it does seem to be. not only having americans listened in on french media, they have also gone to great lengths to analyze the content of the calls. many of questionable interest. i would imagine quite boring as well. the united states' obsession is

a total waste of time and money. is description to "libération" would have cost less -- a subscription to "libération" would have cost less. a nice plug for them. genie: the big question is -- what we learned from all of the spying? oliver: not a huge amount. the most recent documents, which dates just a few days after francois hollande's inauguration, the toy second of may .12, the secret meetings taking place in paris between the socialist party -- the 22nd of may 2012, the secret meetings taking place in paris between the socialist party. they cannot get away from that story, greece possibly leaving the eurozone. the document said the first contact with angela merkel as well and francois hollande involved in transcendence and the fiscal cliff a frosty one, which might lead you to

believe the german chancellor was meeting with nicolas sarkozy. the former french president seem to have seen himself as the only man who could sort out the world was economic crisis will stop that is not exactly a secret facility he was more or less shouting that from the rooftops. president sarkozy was also taking calls from -- according to a memo from 2012, and a conference to bring israelis and palestinians together. genie: it is true, these do not seem to be particularly air its shattering revelations but what if the paper have to say about american supported this? oliver: it says the u.s. used a spy station operated by the special collection service which is comparable to the cia and nsa, located at the american embassy in paris, which is located conveniently next to

elysée and within a mile of the national sibley and a number of major french ministries. a classified document -- national assembly and a number of major french ministries. a classified document said there are a number of these around the world, 19 of which in europe. this is probably the only one in paris. the actual question is -- how easy is it to hack into presidential mobile phones? it appears to be quite easy. it is only the land lines that are sick secure in the elysée palace itself. smartphones have cause andóxóxóxóx

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