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European union recommends asylum for Snowden, and dropping criminal charges
MEPs voted 285 - 281 to recognise the NSA whistleblower's status as a "human rights defender" and asked member states to grant him protection from extradition to the US, where he is wanted under several Espionage Act charges.
In the resolution that was passed, MEPs said "too little has been done to safeguard citizens' fundamental rights following revelations of electronic mass surveillance" the whistleblower alerted the world to after exposing the extent of the National Security Agency's spying programmes in 2013.
The EU Commission is also being urged to ensure that all data transfers to the US are subject to an "effective level of protection" and examine concerns over surveillance laws in several EU countries, such as reported co-operation by Germany intelligence agency BND with the NSA.
It is up to individual member states to implement the resolution.
