German coalition at odds over US spy deal
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s then-chief of staff, Ronald Pofalla, said a few weeks before German elections in 2013 the two countries would start talks on an agreement not to spy on each other. The statement came after revelations by Edward Snowden about surveillance by the US National Security Agency.
However, a report by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and two broadcasters, based on email correspondence between the governments, suggested there was no firm indication at the time that the White House would contemplate such a deal.
