The Eric Snowden/NSA saga is the dubious gift that keeps on giving. First we find out they’re collecting info on our cell phones, smartphones, emails and social media posts. Now, we find our they’re doing the same to our European allies.
That’s right! Snowden’s documents just revealed the US government has tapped over a half billion phone calls, emails and text messages a month on our European allies. Apparently this started five years ago. And the main target is Germany. In Germany alone, an estimated 20 million phone calls and 10 million Internet transactions were monitored by the National Security Agency on a daily basis! Naturally, European leaders are disappointed and outraged. German authorities?say these acts rival that of the 20th century Cold War. France Prime Minister Laurent Fabius?calls this type of spying ?unacceptable, and demand answers. Luxembourg’s foreign minister calls this disgusting. There are calls for US Secretary of State John Kerry to come to EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium to explain these allegations.
What is this going to do to US-EU relations? These revelations come at a time a major trade pact worth billions of dollars is on the line. Could this hinder those talks, or at the very least, affect them? Germany, the main target, is also Europe’s financial leader. It has the 4th largest GDP in the world and an unemployment rate of 6.5%. Correct me if I’m wrong, that’s the lowest rate in the EU (Spain’s unemployment rate is in the 20s, for those who want to compare). I can only imagine this isn’t going to help European and American relationships much. Remember in 2003, how strained the continents were over going to Iraq? That may pale in comparison to this. I can imagine while some may halt their trip because of this. And what would these revelations do to the economy?