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Germany says 'Cold War' behavior by U.S. would be unacceptable

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel chats with German government spokesman Steffen Seibert (R) before the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, September 19, 2012. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz

German Chancellor Angela Merkel chats with German government spokesman Steffen Seibert (R) before the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, September 19, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Tobias Schwarz

BERLIN | Mon Jul 1, 2013 5:57am EDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government said on Monday if media reports of large-scale U.S. spying on the European Union were confirmed, it would be unacceptable Cold War-style behavior between partners who require mutual trust to forge a new transatlantic trade area.

"If it is confirmed that diplomatic representations of the European Union and individual European countries have been spied upon, we will clearly say that bugging friends is unacceptable," said Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert. "We are no longer in the Cold War."

Germany wanted an EU-U.S. free trade deal which would foster economic growth and job creation, said Seibert. But he added: "Mutual trust is necessary in order to come to an agreement."

(Reporting by Stephen Brown, Annika Breidthardt and Michelle Martin)
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Comments (7)
kenradke60 wrote:
Oh give me a break Germany…laughingstock! You are all in cahoots and you all spy on each other. It is hardly fair to single out the USA. bull crap!!

Jul 01, 2013 6:07am EDT  --  Report as abuse
TBellchambers wrote:
A lobby-controlled US Congress will authorise covert surveillance on anyone or anything that is contrary to its political agenda for political and military hegemony in the Middle East, Europe and around the world. The elected presidency in the US is tragically impotent in the face of such political machinations. America is effectively now as democratic as North Korea. In both cases, actual power is in the hands of an unelected minority.

It will be of no surprise to anyone who is politically aware.

Jul 01, 2013 6:14am EDT  --  Report as abuse
ALALAYIIIAAAA wrote:
As the italians have said it was a matter of time to see germany and united states quarelling in public.united states realized that it was their fault for breaking the wall and germans realized how fraudsters are americans after the fall of leehman brothers by loosing their money.i think germans if they try harder and get the support of greece which plays the role of the german example and at the time doesn’t go so well and italy’s which has close tights with united states the game is over for the americans.

Jul 01, 2013 6:51am EDT  --  Report as abuse
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