Deutsche Welle, 25 November 2013
German
officials have urged the US to restore trust between the countries following
allegations of spying by intelligence services. Berlin and Washington are
currently working on a new agreement regarding espionage.
US Senator Christopher Murphy (r) congressman Gregory Meeks speak in Berlin over the NSA scandal. Photo: dpa |
The United
States should make a "special effort" to restore trust, German
Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Monday following a meeting in Berlin with US Senator Chris Murphy and Ambassador John Emerson. Outgoing
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the US still must explain spying
allegations, including claims that the National Security Agency (NSA) had targeted Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"Confidence
has been lost," said Westerwelle, who also met US Representative Gregory
Meeks. "We have to work to ensure that it can be restored."
Westerwelle added that "we want a good balance between security and
privacy" and "clear rules are needed for the future."
German
concerns about the NSA's operations culminated in claims last month that US
intelligence services had targeted Merkel's mobile phone since 2002. Many of
the allegations originated from information provided by Edward Snowden, the NSA
contractor-turned-whistleblower. Several German opposition lawmakers have
called for Snowden to testify to a potential parliamentary inquiry in Berlin.
'Action is
needed'
Media
reports of US intelligence agencies' surveillance activities within Germany and
elsewhere in Europe have burdened the country's relationship with the United
States, Friedrich said. Murphy, the chair of the Senate foreign relations
subcommittee on European affairs, seemed to agree with Friedrich, and
emphasized the importance of the transatlantic partnership.
"It's
not just about words," Murphy said. "Action is needed now."
After
Monday's talks, Meeks, a Democrat from New York state, said that Germany and
the United States would need to strengthen their relationship again for further
mutual benefit. The US congressmen plan to head to Brussels on Tuesday.
Dark history
The
allegations of US spying come particularly sensitive issue in the country
because of its Nazi past, as well as the extensive surveillance operations of
the East German secret service until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Friedrich
said he hoped that the US Congress would seize the initiative to prevent such
occurrences in the future.
Friedrich
called spying among friends "totally unacceptable."
After
meeting the US delegation Monday, Thomas Oppermann, the Social Democrats'
parliamentary group leader and chairman of the secret service oversight
committee, called the US espionage affair "not over."
"We
expect further light to be shed," he said, adding that German political
parties had agreed that "the completely out-of-hand practice of bugging by
the NSA must finally have limits."
mkg/ph (AFP, dpa, AP)
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