A furious Angela Merkel had the US ambassador in Berlin summoned today over claims that her personal mobile phone was tapped by America.
The revelation that Europe’s most powerful leader was eavesdropped upon caused new outrage for a White House reeling from the leaks of rogue official Edward Snowden.
France was trying to put the issue on the agenda of a European Union summit of 27 leaders in Brussels today, raising the possibility of a full-scale rift between Europe and America.
Berlin’s foreign minister Guido Westerwelle demanded a meeting with US envoy John Emerson to discuss the latest leaks.
Mrs Merkel, who phoned President Barack Obama in person to protest, is seeking a “complete explanation” of the claims.
The issue of state eavesdropping is particularly sensitive in Germany, and Mrs Merkel grew up in East Germany where phone-tapping by the Stasi secret police was routine.
Mr Obama gave her an assurance only that America was not monitoring her phone at present and would no do so in future. That left open the possibility that a bugging operation had been carried out in the past.
French President François Hollande is already trying to mobilise EU leaders to protest after reports that millions of French phone calls and texts were monitored, including those made by politicians and businessmen.
European Commissioner Michel Barnier told the BBC “enough is enough” and that confidence in the US had been shaken.
Mrs Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said the German leader “views such practices... as completely unacceptable” and had demanded a “complete and comprehensive explanation”.
“Among close friends and partners, as the Federal Republic of Germany and the US have been for decades, there should be no such monitoring of the communications of a head of government,”he said in a statement.
A visit to Berlin by Mr Obama was overshadowed by protests about the bugging row. But he assured Mrs Merkel in June that America did not routinely spy on German citizens. She was criticised by political opponents for accepting his word.
