German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a strong rebuke to the United States and Britain on Wednesday over sweeping surveillance and spying activities reported by fugitive IT contractor Edward Snowden.
In a major speech to parliament ahead of talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday, Merkel said that Western powers sacrificing freedom in the quest for security were sending the wrong signal to "billions of people living in undemocratic states".
"Actions in which the ends justify the means, in which everything that is technically possible is done, violate trust, they sow distrust," she said. "The end result is not more security but less." » | AFP | Wednesday, January 29, 2014
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Regierungserklärung der Kanzlerin: Merkel beklagt Vertrauensbruch durch US-Geheimdienste: Angela Merkel hat die Ausspähung durch ausländische Geheimdienste scharf kritisiert. "Das zerstört Vertrauen", sagte die Kanzlerin in ihrer Regierungserklärung im Bundestag. Gleichwohl gestalteten sich die Verhandlungen über ein No-Spy-Abkommen mit den USA schwierig. » | syd | Mittwoch, 29. Januar 2014
