Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Merkel defends stance on NSA snooping before committee

929845
929845
minus
plus

Berlin: Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday defended her stance that “spying among friends” is unacceptable as she testified before a parliamentary committee investigating NSA surveillance and alleged cooperation by the country’s own intelligence service.


The session centred on allegations of eavesdropping on one of Merkel’s mobile phones in 2013, which prompted outrage among citizens and brought about a diplomatic spat that soured relations between her government and the Obama White House.


Merkel said at the time that “spying among friends” was unacceptable. But subsequent reports said that Germany’s Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) intelligence agency, which is overseen by Merkel’s chancellery, spied on allies on behalf of the US.


Speaking in the Bundestag on Thursday, Merkel said she hadn’t known about the BND’s surveillance activities until March 2015 and that her comment about spying among friends remained valid.


“It is and remains important to find the right balance between freedom and security,” Merkel said during her testimony.


Earlier on Thursday, Martina Renner, committee chairwoman on behalf of the Left Party, said Merkel had misled the public about her knowledge of the spying practices and that her comment about spying among friends was an act of “window dressing.”


Merkel also came under fire after reports that her government had exaggerated the possibility of a “no-spy” agreement with the US in order to limit political fallout. — dpa


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon