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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has compared US spying to Cold War tactics and Brussels wants EU facilities checked for American eavesdropping equipment. Concern is growing the scandal could seriously damage trans-Atlantic relations. Spying row threatens EU-US talks.
Many treaties between the Atlantic Alliance were based on trust as friendly nations, damage done will take a decade or more to recover. Obama’s good-will as President continues to take a beating in Europe, foremost from its citizens, now also from the EU leadership. No wonder Putin has stated Edward Snowden can apply for refugee status in Russia (Breaking News). America is its own worst enemy, just take a look how democracy and the legislature should work (US Congress doesn’t!).
DAR-ES-SALAAM, Tanzania (CBS News) – Responding to reports that the United States has been spying on the European Union, President Obama on Monday suggested that every nation engages in that kind of covert intelligence gathering.
“They’re going to be trying to understand the world better and what’s going on in world capitals… through sources that aren’t available through the New York Times or NBC News,” Mr. Obama said during a press conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where he stopped on the last leg of his seven-day trip to Africa.
“I guarantee you there are people in European capitals who are interested in not only what I had for breakfast in the morning, but what my talking points might be should I end up meeting with their leaders,” he said.
Mr. Obama stressed that European nations remain “some of the closest allies that we have in the world” and that he maintains close, constructive relationships with European leaders.
“I’m the end user of this kind of intelligence. And if I want to know what Chancellor Merkel is thinking, I will call Chancellor Merkel.”
John Kerry says E.U. leaders voicing worries about alleged U.S. spying
(CBS News) Leaders in Europe say they are “deeply worried” by reports the United States spied on the European Union. The allegations are the latest reported from leaks by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
Details of the allegations have been trickling out for the past 48 hours in Britain and Europe, and CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer says the political reaction has ranged from astonishment to fury.
European leaders gathering over the weekend to mark Croatia’s entry into the European Union were blindsided by the new allegations. The reports say a European Union office in Washington was bugged, so official conversations and emails could have been monitored by American intelligence.
“Is this the basis for a constructive relationship on the basis of mutual trust, I think no,” said Martin Schulz, current president of the European Parliament.
Secretary of State John Kerry, on an official visit to Brunei, said Monday the Europeans had raised the matter with him, but he wouldn’t comment until he knew the whole truth, but added that, “every country in the world that is engaged in international affairs of national security undertakes lots of activities to protect its national security.”
EU leaders voice their anger at the alleged espionage
(France24) – In the strongest reaction yet to allegations of US eavesdropping on EU diplomats, French President François Hollande on Monday demanded an immediate halt to the surveillance and issued a veiled threat that the “unacceptable” spying could jeopardise US-EU free trade talks.
“We cannot accept this kind of behaviour between partners and allies,” Hollande told journalists during a visit to the western French city of Lorient on Monday.
“We ask that this immediately stop,” Hollande added. “There can be no negotiations or transactions in all areas until we have obtained these guarantees, for France but also for all of the European Union.”
Hollande’s rebuke came a day after German weekly magazine Der Spiegel published a report alleging that the NSA (National Security Agency) bugged EU offices and computer networks.
‘No Longer in the Cold War’: Angela Merkel Infuriated by US Spying
(Der Spiegel) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has compared US spying to Cold War tactics and Brussels wants EU facilities checked for American eavesdropping equipment. Concern is growing the scandal could seriously damage trans-Atlantic relations.
The German government reacted strongly on Monday to media reports that the United States has spent years spying on the European Union and on specific European countries. Meanwhile, European Union leaders have both reviled the US for allegedly bugging EU diplomatic missions in Washington, DC, and New York and ordered that bloc facilities be searched for American eavesdropping equipment.
“The monitoring of friends — this is unacceptable. It can’t be tolerated,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday through her spokesman Steffen Seibert. “We are no longer in the Cold War.” Seibert said that Merkel had already communicated her displeasure to the US. “Trust has to be the basis of our cooperation,” Seibert said. “When it comes to this affair, trust has to be re-established.”
In addition, Germany’s Foreign Ministry is performing a check on the security of its communications with embassies abroad while the Interior Ministry in Berlin is undertaking an examination of the safety of communication channels used by the German government.
Europe Reacts to NSA Spying (bottom of article)
European Commission VP Neelie Kroes: Spying ‘not acceptable at all’
(BBC News) – The vice-president of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes, has said that it is a “shock” that US intelligence services have potentially been spying on EU offices.
Responding to the allegations, Ms Kroes said that spying was “not acceptable at all… but we shouldn’t be that much surprised”. She added that “it should never, ever happen again”.