German and French accusations that the US has run spying operations in their countries, including possibly bugging German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone, are likely to dominate a meeting of EU leaders that was to start yesterday.
The two-day Brussels summit, called to tackle a range of social and economic issues, will now be overshadowed by debate on how to respond to the alleged espionage by Washington against two of its closest EU allies.
For Germany, the issue is particularly sensitive as not only does Berlin say it has evidence that Merkel’s personal phone was monitored, but the very idea of bugging dredges up memories of eavesdropping by the Stasi secret police in the former East Germany, where the chancellor grew up.
PHOTO: AFP
Following leaks by US National Security Agency (NSA) data analyst Edward Snowden, which revealed the reach of the agency’s vast data-monitoring programs, the US finds itself at odds with a host of allies, from Brazil to Saudi Arabia.
In an unusually strongly worded statement on Wednesday evening, Merkel’s spokesman said the chancellor had spoken to US President Barack Obama to seek clarity on the spying charges.
“She made clear that she views such practices, if proven true, as completely unacceptable and condemns them unequivocally,” the statement read.
White House spokesman Jan Carney said Obama had assured Merkel that the US “is not monitoring and will not monitor” the chancellor’s communications, leaving open the possibility that it has happened in the past.
A White House official declined to say whether Merkel’s phone had previously been bugged.
“I’m not in a position to comment publicly on every specific alleged intelligence activity,” the official said.
German Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle has summoned the US ambassador to Berlin to discuss the issue.
Germany’s frustration follows outrage in France since the Le Monde newspaper reported that the NSA had collected tens of thousands of French telephone records between December last year and January.
French President Francois Hollande has made clear he plans to put the spying issue on the summit agenda, although it is not clear what that will ultimately achieve.
While Berlin and Paris are likely to find sympathy among many of the EU’s 28 member states, domestic security issues are not a competence of the bloc. The best that may be hoped for is an expression of support from leaders and calls for a full explanation from the US.
The furor over the alleged espionage could encourage member states to back tougher data privacy rules currently being drafted by the EU. The European Parliament this week approved an amended package of legislation that would overhaul EU data protection rules that date from 1995.
The new rules would restrict how data collected in Europe by firms such as Google and Facebook is shared with non-EU countries, introduce the right of EU citizens to request that their digital traces be erased, and impose fines of 100 million euros (US$138 million) or more on rule breakers.
Despite the outrage in Paris and Berlin, the former head of France’s intelligence agency said the issue was being blown out of proportion and no one should be surprised by US spying.
“I’m bewildered by such worrying naivete. You’d think the politicians don’t read the reports they’re sent — there shouldn’t be any surprise,” former French Central Directorate of Homeland Intelligence director Bernard Squarcini told Le Figaro.
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