New Questions Asked After German Report of US Surveillance
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iStock/Thinkstock(BERLIN) — Washington is facing new questions after new claims surfaced Saturday regarding alleged U.S. surveillance on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The German news magazine Der Spiegel, which broke the story, claims a sophisticated listening post in Berlin’s American embassy is intercepting communications in Berlin’s entire government district.
A joint CIA and National Security Agency team operates in 80 locations worldwide, Der Spiegel claims, and 19 of them were in European cities such as Paris, Madrid, Rome, Prague and Geneva. Frankfurt also houses a second U.S. spy center, according to the magazine.
Merkel expressed concern to President Obama on Wednesday after finding out the U.S. had been allegedly tapping her personal cellphone for more than a decade.
Germany’s interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich was quoted as seeking information from Washington following the allegations.
Holger Stark, Der Spiegel senior correspondent who broke the story, said a print out of an NSA database shows the agency started to target Merkel in 2002, prior to her appointment as chancellor. The surveillance continued up until Obama’s June visit to Berlin, he said.
The claims signify a change in German sentiment toward the American government, Stark explains.
“This revelation has really turned the tide in Germany. The German government has been very reluctant of condemning American activities, NSA activities,” he said. “This is the most severe reaction we’ve seen over many, many years with France and the United States, and it might be a real stress test, maybe the most severe stress test for the transatlantic relations for many, many years.”
Allegations of mass spying in France also surfaced from French newspaper Le Monde, prompting denial from the U.S. director of national intelligence.
President Obama told the German chancellor in June that he if wanted to know something about her, he would call her, Stark said. However amid reports that Obama knew of surveillance in 2010, Stark said Germans are still unsure of the president’s involvement.
“He assured the German chancellor if he would have known he would have stopped it,” Stark said. “He personally provided the impression to the chancellor that he was out of the loop.”
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