14 DAY TRIAL // Some countries have already ruled Snowden’s asylum request as invalid because it was not made from their own territory.
According to BBC, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Spain and Switzerland said that the request was invalid because it didn’t come from their own territory.
Since Snowden is currently stuck on a Moscow airport without any type of documentation, the chances for him to reach any of these countries are very slim.
“Delivering an application for asylum from abroad is in principle not allowed,” the Deputy Justice Secretary of Norway said.
Similarly, the Polish foreign minister said that the asylum request does not meet the country’s requirements. He added that, even if it did, he would not recommend the government to accept the proposition.
France, Venezuela and Bolivia have stated that they are yet to receive such a request from Snowden.
The full list of countries where Snowden seeks asylum was published on the WikiLeaks website and it includes Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela, Ecuador and Iceland.
Russia was also on the list, but Snowden retracted his request after Vladimir Putin said that he could stay in his country on the condition of stopping attacks on the US.
This past weekend, new information revealed that the US had been spying on European Union diplomats, as well as embassies of dozens other countries. The news was received with much disapproval from European leaders and have possibly increased the chances for them to grant Snowden asylum.
The European Commission has already requested that all EU buildings be swept for electronic bugs and has requested an official response from the White House.
US president Barack Obama said that he has forwarded the request to the NSA which will analyze the allegations and formulate a response. He even tried to dissuade the importance of such an action, claiming that everyone is doing it.