France is looking into a news report that the phone of French President Emmanuel Macron may have been tapped using spyware, his office said on Tuesday.
A surveillance agency attempted to access the president's private conversations in 2019, an international investigation cited by France Info, which took part in the project, showed.
Other heads of state and government members — including about 15 French ministers or ex-ministers were also tapped, the probe showed.
The spyware was used in the attempted and successful hacks of smartphones worldwide, said the investigative report, which relied on evidence extracted from the phones through forensic analysis.
Former French prime minister Edouard Philippe, his wife, as well as incumbent Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire could also have been tapped, France Info said.
Paris prosecutors opened a probe into the spyware after journalists and investigative outlet Mediapart filed a complaint.
