Germany and US negotiations on anti-espionage pact have failed

Attempts by Germany and the United States to reach an anti-espionage pact appear to have failed. The two countries started negotiations after it emerged that the American secret service NSA had been listening in on German Chancellor Merkel for years.

Reports surfaced in January that negotiations between Germany and the United States were not going smoothly because the Americans would not guarantee that the secret services would not tap German politicians again in the future. The New York Times now reports that, according to German sources, the negotiations have failed, so that no anti-espionage pact between the two countries will be concluded. The Americans would fear that other friendly countries would want to make similar agreements once there is a deal with Germany.

The failure of the negotiations comes just as Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting US President Obama. The US has previously indicated that it will no longer tap Merkel’s cellphones, but Obama has refused to give guarantees that this is not currently happening with other German politicians. The US government has also not disclosed claims that the US embassy in Berlin has an advanced wiretap.

Although the unrest surrounding the Snowden revelations in the US has eased somewhat, the issue is still raging in Germany. Some politicians argued that Merkel should not travel to the White House until there was an agreement with the Americans. Incidentally, the Merkel government will also appear on Friday before a German parliamentary inquiry committee investigating Snowden’s revelations.