Security between US, Germany must be based on trust, not espionage - Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday told the US that trust was crucial between the two allies, speaking amid a row over alleged US surveillance in her country.
"I think that in these times, which can be very confusing, very much depends on trust between allies," Merkel said, mentioning crises such as the Syria conflict and the threat of terrorism. "More trust can mean more security," AFP reports.
Searches have kicked off in Germany at the home and workplace of a German secret service agent suspected of having ties with US intelligence. If Berlin's suspicions are confirmed, this will be the second case in a week of an American spy being detectged. According to Western media, this could lead to tensions in relations between the two countries.
The German Ministry of Defense may have unmasked a second American spy. According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, staff from the Federal Office of criminal police and the Federal Prosecutor's Office searched the Berlin house and office of one a Ministry of Defense employee suspected of spying for US intelligence in Germany.
The Prosecutor's Office said that "at the moment they cannot provide" more information. Today, the person suspected of cooperation with American intelligence will be interrogated.
The newspaper notes that insiders believe this case to be more serious than the previous one. Last week, another German Federal Intelligence Service employee was detained. He admitted that two years ago, he offered cooperation to American secret services and handed over to the CIA more than two hundred documents for about 25 thousand Euros.
It is reported that CIA Director John Brennan has already phoned teh Federal Intelligence Service coordinator in the German Chancellery, the Secretary of the Federal Interior Ministry of Germany, Klaus-Dieter Fritsche. Details of that conversation have not been revelaed by either side.
Allegations that a German intelligence official was used by the US secret services as a double agent will not hamper negotiations on a free trade deal between the European Union (EU) and the United States, Reuters cites a German government spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz as saying on Monday.
"The Americans are important partners for Germany including of course in economic terms, so the Translatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks ... are not in question or in doubt," Wirtz said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday allegations that a German man worked as a "double agent" for US intelligence were serious and, if true, were a clear contradiction of what cooperation between partners is supposed to be about. Merkel made the comments at a news conference while on a visit to Beijing, Reuters reports.
The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, currently visiting China, looks "dismayed and disappointed" in the wake of the latest spy scandal to break out in Germany earlier this week, the Spiegel Online newspaper reports, quoting a source within the German delegation in China.
The scandal may deal a serious blow to America’s reputation in Germany, the source said.
Germany's Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has demanded explanations from Washington following the arrest of a suspected US spy in Germany.
If the suspicions are proved, then it’s no trifling matter, he said during his visit to Mongolia on Sunday.
Steinmeier urged Washington to contribute to the speedy clarification of all circumstances surrounding the affair.The German Interior Minister, Thomas de Maisiere, for his part told Germany’s Bild newspaper he expected the White House to voice its position and come up with an assessment of the incident.
Very serious charges have been brought and the Attorney General’s Office is investigating them, Maiziere said.
That’s the only way to evaluate the scale of suspected spying and identify those involved in it, he said.
The incident highlights the need for effective counter-intelligence, the minister added.
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_10/Security-between-US-Germany-must-be-based-on-trust-not-espionage-Merkel-0389/
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_10/Security-between-US-Germany-must-be-based-on-trust-not-espionage-Merkel-0389/
"I think that in these times, which can be very confusing, very much depends on trust between allies," Merkel said, mentioning crises such as the Syria conflict and the threat of terrorism. "More trust can mean more security," AFP reports.
Searches have kicked off in Germany at the home and workplace of a German secret service agent suspected of having ties with US intelligence. If Berlin's suspicions are confirmed, this will be the second case in a week of an American spy being detectged. According to Western media, this could lead to tensions in relations between the two countries.
The German Ministry of Defense may have unmasked a second American spy. According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, staff from the Federal Office of criminal police and the Federal Prosecutor's Office searched the Berlin house and office of one a Ministry of Defense employee suspected of spying for US intelligence in Germany.
The Prosecutor's Office said that "at the moment they cannot provide" more information. Today, the person suspected of cooperation with American intelligence will be interrogated.
The newspaper notes that insiders believe this case to be more serious than the previous one. Last week, another German Federal Intelligence Service employee was detained. He admitted that two years ago, he offered cooperation to American secret services and handed over to the CIA more than two hundred documents for about 25 thousand Euros.
It is reported that CIA Director John Brennan has already phoned teh Federal Intelligence Service coordinator in the German Chancellery, the Secretary of the Federal Interior Ministry of Germany, Klaus-Dieter Fritsche. Details of that conversation have not been revelaed by either side.
Allegations that a German intelligence official was used by the US secret services as a double agent will not hamper negotiations on a free trade deal between the European Union (EU) and the United States, Reuters cites a German government spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz as saying on Monday.
"The Americans are important partners for Germany including of course in economic terms, so the Translatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks ... are not in question or in doubt," Wirtz said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday allegations that a German man worked as a "double agent" for US intelligence were serious and, if true, were a clear contradiction of what cooperation between partners is supposed to be about. Merkel made the comments at a news conference while on a visit to Beijing, Reuters reports.
The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, currently visiting China, looks "dismayed and disappointed" in the wake of the latest spy scandal to break out in Germany earlier this week, the Spiegel Online newspaper reports, quoting a source within the German delegation in China.
The scandal may deal a serious blow to America’s reputation in Germany, the source said.
Germany's Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has demanded explanations from Washington following the arrest of a suspected US spy in Germany.
If the suspicions are proved, then it’s no trifling matter, he said during his visit to Mongolia on Sunday.
Steinmeier urged Washington to contribute to the speedy clarification of all circumstances surrounding the affair.The German Interior Minister, Thomas de Maisiere, for his part told Germany’s Bild newspaper he expected the White House to voice its position and come up with an assessment of the incident.
Very serious charges have been brought and the Attorney General’s Office is investigating them, Maiziere said.
That’s the only way to evaluate the scale of suspected spying and identify those involved in it, he said.
The incident highlights the need for effective counter-intelligence, the minister added.
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_10/Security-between-US-Germany-must-be-based-on-trust-not-espionage-Merkel-0389/
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_10/Security-between-US-Germany-must-be-based-on-trust-not-espionage-Merkel-0389/
