Et Tu, UK? Anger Grows over British Spying in Berlin

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/revelation-of-spy-nest-in-british-berlin-embassy-angers-germans-a-931868.html



First it was the US -- and now it turns out the UK might have been spying from its embassy in Berlin, too. Officials at Germany's Foreign Ministry responded Tuesday by inviting Britain's ambassador for a lecture.

Et Tu, UK? Anger Grows over British Spying in Berlin
November 05, 2013 – 01:22 PM

Reacting to allegations that yet another close ally might be spying on its leaders from an embassy in Berlin, Germany's Foreign Ministry invited Britain's ambassador to a meeting on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the allegations. The invitation had been requested by Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

During the meeting, the head of the ministry's European affairs department informed the ambassador that "eavesdropping on communications inside the offices of a diplomatic mission would violate international law," a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. The ministry did not provide addition details about the meeting.

The revelations about further alleged spying have rocked the political establishment in Berlin this week. The London-based Independent newspaper revealed Monday that British intelligence had established a "secret listening post" in the British Embassy like the one recently revealed by SPIEGEL to be in the US Embassy on the same large block. The British post, like the American one, is located near the German parliament, the Reichstag, and was disclosed in the trove of data leaked by American intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Tuesday's developments come one week after the Foreign Ministry ordered the US ambassador to discuss revelations in the NSA scandal that the American intelligence agency had been monitoring Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone communications for years. Since then, the ministry has been particularly sensitive to new developments in the affair. The latest report is unlikely to have the same impact as those of spying on Merkel and, indeed, an invitation for a meeting at the Foreign Ministry does not have the kind of strong diplomatic associations that being ordered to appear does. It will nevertheless send the message to officials in London that politicians in Berlin are annoyed.