German minister slammed over US talks

Opposition parties in Germany have slammed the countryâ„¢s interior minister over his Å“complete failure” in a recent trip to Washington to discuss the US espionage activities against Berlin.

The comments came after Hans-Peter Friedrich met with US Vice President Joe Biden, President Barack Obamaâ„¢s adviser on national security Lisa Monaco, and Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday to discuss Washington’s spying activities against Germany.

The talks resulted in an Å“agreement” between the two countries, based on which the US Ëœhad betterâ„¢ inform Germany about its surveillance activities in the future, but is not mandated to do so.

The German opposition reacted to the talks by describing the trip as a Å“disaster” and a Å“flop” for what they called Friedrichâ„¢s failure to elicit legitimate answers on the USâ„¢s espionage.

Konstantin von Notz, a member of the Greens Party, said the trip cured nothing, and that it Å“was an attempt at making it seem like something was being done.”

Furthermore, von Notz said the governing coalition has focused too much on the fact that official German delegations were potentially the victims of US spying instead of paying due heed to the revelation that the communication by 80 million German people was being monitored by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

IT expert and researcher Constanze Kurz reacted to the trip by saying she was baffled that the federal government continues to regard the US and Great Britain as Germany’s partners and allies and that it seems content not to pursue the issue further.

The spying scandal hit the US when recent disclosures were made by US whistleblower Edward Snowden about the NSAâ„¢s espionage activities on a global scale.

Germans were particularly outraged, in part because of the memories of repression by East Germany’s Stasi and the Gestapo under the Nazis.

Å“The publications make it clear that we are the target of attacks,” Kurz further said.

CAH/HJL