Follow us on:   

Rousseff slams US spying on Merkel
October 25, 2013, 6:25 am

Merkel on Thursday issued an unusual sharply-worded statement through her spokesperson. "Spying among friends -- that's totally unacceptable," she said before the EU summit in Brussels [AP]

“Spying among friends – that’s totally unacceptable,” said Chancellor Merkel before the EU summit in Brussels [AP]

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has strongly condemned the recent reports of the US National Security Agency (NSA) spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying it was “a grave violation of sovereignty.”

President Rousseff also warned the US that there will be a “growing reaction” from countries targeted by the spying scandal.

In an interview on Brazilian radio, the president said the US explanations for the surveillance targeting terror threats “does not fit in my case, and neither do I think it fits in the case of the monitoring of (Merkel’s) cell phone.”

“Nobody, no democratic nation, will permit this violation of sovereignty and human and civil rights,” Rousseff said on Thursday.

Chancellor Merkel on Thursday issued an unusual sharply-worded statement through her spokesperson. “Spying among friends – that’s totally unacceptable,” said Merkel before the EU summit in Brussels.

Media reports revealed information based on leaked documents provided by NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden that phone and email communications of both Dilma Rousseff and Angela Merkel were under NSA surveillance.

Germany’s Social Democratic Party leader Sigmar Gabriel said it was hard to imagine clinching any free trade agreement with the US when the country endangered liberties of citizens, adding it was time for a clear-cut European response to the surveillance scandal of American intelligence.

Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office, which is responsible for crimes against national security, said on Thursday it had launched an “observation process” to seek deeper insight of the spying allegations. The process could lead to a formal investigation.

Berlin’s frustration followed outrage in France, after French President Francois Hollande asked for an explanation from his US counterpart Barack Obama earlier over allegations that the US had collected tens of thousands of French phone records between December 2012 and January 2013.

Brazil has recently announced it would shield government communication from surveillance by the United States and other intelligence agencies by setting up a secure email system next month.

“This is the first measure towards expanding privacy and inviolability of official communication,” tweeted President Rousseff.

Rousseff had strongly criticised the United States in her opening speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last month.

Source: Agencies