EU seeks talks on phone spying
Statement urges meeting with U.S.
LONDON — Angered by reports of U.S. spying on European citizens and governments, including heads of state, European Union leaders are calling for a meeting with U.S. officials on the matter before the end of the year.
In a statement issued by European Council President Herman van Rompuy and posted Friday on the EU’s website, the leaders summarized their discussions Thursday on allegations of National Security Agency monitoring of phone traffic across Europe.
The statement, supported by leaders of all 28 EU member states, backed a proposal by France and Germany calling for direct talks with U.S. officials.
The heads of state of both nations are among 35 world leaders whose phones were apparently tapped by the NSA, according to reports of recently leaked U.S. government data.
Both countries now seek “bilateral talks with the USA with the aim of finding before the end of the year an understanding on mutual relations in that field. ... other EU countries are welcome to join this initiative,” the statement said, adding that a resulting “lack of trust could prejudice the necessary cooperation in … intelligence gathering.”
Reports about the alleged U.S. espionage come from documents leaked to The Guardian newspaper by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who is now living in exile in Russia. According to the documents, the NSA had encouraged U.S. government offices to hand over their contacts for various governments around the world, including the cellphone numbers of 35 heads of state, suggesting their phone communications had been intercepted.
An EU report summarizing the main points of Thursday’s discussions stressed the importance of maintaining a trans-Atlantic partnership.
At the end of talks among European leaders in Brussels, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there is concern across Europe, adding that the spying allegations could undermine U.S. relations with those nations.
“Once the seeds of mistrust have been sown, that doesn’t facilitate our work and cooperation. … It makes it more difficult.”
French President Francois Hollande was more blunt, saying at a separate news conference that “such practices cannot be accepted.”
President Barack Obama has called both Merkel and Hollande this week.
On Friday, White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said the president has “ordered an internal review to ensure that the intelligence that’s collected is not just all the intelligence that we are able to collect, but rather intelligence that should be collected … to safeguard the United States and our interests.”
The State Department
— German Chancellor Angela Merkel
said Friday the spying allegations should not undermine cooperation with allies.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Secretary of State John Kerry “recognizes that as we look to pursue a range of diplomatic priorities ... it will really be a mistake to let these disclosures get in the way of that.”
Reuters contributed.