Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to testify before a German parliamentary panel investigating US intelligence activities in the country.
The inquiry was launched a year after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed details of secret US eavesdropping programmes in 2013. The panel is investigating eavesdropping in Germany by the US National Security Agency and its relationship with German counterparts.
Reports say the NSA had listened in on German government phones — including Merkel’s — prompted a diplomatic spat between Berlin and Washington that soured good relations with Obama administration. The panel’s calendar listed Merkel’s testimony for next Thursday.
Her chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, and her top intelligence adviser, Klaus-Dieter Fritsche, are due to testify before the cross-party panel on Monday.
Meeting with Pence:
Government sources told reporters here Merkel will attend the Munich Security Conference next week. US Vice President Mike Pence has already accepted an invitation to the event.
News agencies reported that Merkel is likely to meet with Pence. It would be the first face-to-face meeting between Merkel and a senior member of the new US administration.
In a telephone call with Trump on January 29, Merkel told him that fight against terrorism was no excuse for banning people from Muslim-majority countries entering the US.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US Secretary of Defence James Mattis are also expected to be in Munich for the February 17-19 conference, which has become one of the world’s most important foreign and security policy gatherings.
