An outraged Germany plans to put pressure on President Obama to end America’s Internet surveillance program, calling such tactics akin to East German’s secret police security program.
The U.S. government is using “American-style Stasi methods,” said Markus Ferber, who fills a German seat in the European Parliament, in a Reuters report. “I thought this era had ended when the [German Democratic Republic] fell.”
Meanwhile, German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger called the National Security Agency’s surveillance “deeply disconcerting,” in a Der Spiegel opinion piece.
“The suspicion of excessive surveillance of communication is so alarming that it cannot be ignored,” she wrote, Politico reported. ’”For that reason, openness and clarification by the U.S. administration itself should be paramount at this point.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she will speak to President Obama about the matter on Wednesday, when he visits, Politico reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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