The German government reacted strongly on Monday to media reports that the United States has spent years spying on the European Union and on specific European countries. Meanwhile, European Union leaders have both reviled the US for allegedly bugging EU diplomatic missions in Washington, DC, and New York and ordered that bloc facilities be searched for American eavesdropping equipment.
"The monitoring of friends -- this is unacceptable. It can't be tolerated," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday through her spokesman Steffen Seibert. "We are no longer in the Cold War." Seibert said that Merkel had already communicated her displeasure to the US. "Trust has to be the basis of our cooperation," Seibert said. "When it comes to this affair, trust has to be re-established."
In addition, Germany's Foreign Ministry is performing a check on the security of its communications with embassies abroad while the Interior Ministry in Berlin is undertaking an examination of the safety of communication channels used by the German government. » | cgh -- with wire reports | With reporting by Veit Medick, Annett Meiritz and Philipp Wittrock | Monday, 01. July 2013
