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After the phone call: "Hot Water: German Foreign Minister Summons US Ambassador"
Last edited Thu Oct 24, 2013, 07:39 AM - Edit history (4)
From der Spiegel International but now the Guardian has an article up as well.German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Thursday took the unusual step of summoning the American ambassador to Germany to an afternoon meeting in Berlin in the wake of reports that the US might have spied on Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone.
Westerwelle felt compelled to call Ambassador John B. Emerson in following reports on Wednesday night that the US government possibly monitored Merkel's communications, Foreign Ministry sources told SPIEGEL ONLINE.
The foreign minister is to meet on Thursday afternoon with Emerson, who has only been in Berlin since August. The meeting is indicative of how seriously Berlin is taking the situation, since normally the government's point of view is relayed through subordinates at the Foreign Ministry to the individual ambassadors.
Westerwelle felt compelled to call Ambassador John B. Emerson in following reports on Wednesday night that the US government possibly monitored Merkel's communications, Foreign Ministry sources told SPIEGEL ONLINE.
The foreign minister is to meet on Thursday afternoon with Emerson, who has only been in Berlin since August. The meeting is indicative of how seriously Berlin is taking the situation, since normally the government's point of view is relayed through subordinates at the Foreign Ministry to the individual ambassadors.
It looks as if the Germans noticed that reassurances were NOT given concerning spying on Merkel in the past.
On edit: Very interesting tidbit from another FAZ article: when it was asked about spying on Cameron, the US DID explicitly state he wasn't spied upon in the past.
Eine Sprecherin des amerikanischen Nationalen Sicherheitsrats sagte unterdessen, die Vereinigten Staaten würden die Kommunikation des britischen Premierministers Cameron nicht überwachen. Auf Nachfrage äußerte die Sprecherin, man habe Camerons digitale Kommunikation auch in der Vergangenheit nicht überwacht.
I'd say it's now official that Merkel's phone WAS spied on.
There will also be a special session of the Parliamentary Oversight Committee this afternoon:
Der Vorsitzende des Gremiums, Thomas Oppermann (SPD), kündigte am Donnerstag an, er habe für 14 Uhr eine Sitzung der Runde einberufen. „Wer die Kanzlerin abhört, der hört auch die Bürger ab“, sagte Oppermann.„Die Überwachungstätigkeit der NSA ist völlig aus dem Ruder gelaufen und befindet sich offenbar jenseits aller demokratischen Kontrolle.“
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/lauschangriff-auf-die-kanzlerin-auswaertiges-amt-bestellt-amerikanischen-botschafter-ein-12631622.html
NSA surveillance is totally unhinged, is my best translation of what I put in bold...
Some may say this all is a storm in a glass of water, but consider:
1) The EU has come up with a privacy directive that makes it illegal for companies (like Google or Facebook) to hand over data to third parties
2) The EU has voted to stop cooperating on the exchange of financial data out of the SWIFT system
What the NSA is doing is undermining your security, not enhancing it.
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