German double spy probe strains US-German relations

On Friday, Germany had summoned the US ambassador for the country following the allegations of a German accused to have been working for foreign intelligence agencies, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to a ministry statement, Deputy Foreign Minister Stephan Steinlein is urging US Ambassador John Emerson to clear up the matter regarding the new information that have alighted from the arrest of a 31 year-old German, whom two sources have said had previously worked for the German foreign-intelligence agency, known as the BND.

On Wednesday, the German was arrested under spying charges as he appeared to have attempted to contact Russian spies. One of the sources said the accused told investigators that he had claimed to have been passing information to US intelligence as well. The sources, on the other hand, said that the man's links to US intelligence has yet to be conclusively established, but the suspicions warranted the need to brief Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel and select members of the parliament.

US officials in Washington and Berlin has since declined to comment on the matter, WSJ said. A spokesperson for Merkel, on the other hand, said, "This is a very serious development. The government will now await the conclusions of the federal prosecutor and federal criminal police's investigation."

WSJ said that this development had further strained the ties between Germany and the US. The relationship between the two countries were first tested when Edward Snowden's leaks revealed that the National Security Agency had been monitoring Merkel's mobile phone. Spying is a sensitive issue to the Germans due to its history with mass surveillance by the Communists and Nazis, WSJ said.

Social Democrat lawmaker and co-chairman of the NSA inquiry Christian Flisek said about the potential outcome of the meeting, "If the suspicion of a targeted attack on a German constitutional body is confirmed, just one year after the first Snowden disclosures, that would set the level of trust back to zero and result in political consequences."

Tags

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel, US-Germany relations, Edward Snowden leaks, Merkel phone tapping, BND

© 2023 Lawyer Herald All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.