Top German lawmaker presses for 'no-spy' accord with U.S.
Says failure would be unacceptable
1/14/2014BERLIN — A top lawmaker in Germany’s governing coalition is pressing for the completion of a “no-spy” agreement with the United States, insisting that failure would be unacceptable.
Germany announced in August that Berlin and Washington would negotiate an agreement not to spy on each other after revelations about U.S. National Security Agency surveillance caused widespread unease — later compounded by allegations that the U.S. monitored Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone.
Thomas Oppermann, the caucus leader of the Social Democrats — Merkel’s partners in government — said that “a failure of the agreement would be unacceptable” and would “change the political character of relations.”
The government says that talks are ongoing.