France wont grant asylum to Edward Snowden, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
“He asked for asylum in France, but also elsewhere, in 2013. At that time, France thought that it was not appropriate, I do not see anything that has changed Thursday, either from a political or a legal point of view,” Le Drian told French TV station CNews.
Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who was behind one of the largest intelligence leaks in U.S. history, told French radio earlier this week that he would be happy to leave Russia and move to France.
He has lived in Russia since 2013 after fleeing the U.S., where he is accused of violating the Espionage Act.
Le Drians comments come after French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet and MEP Nathalie Loiseau said they would be in favor of offering asylum to the whistleblower.
An adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron
