Germany’s decision to ask the CIA station chief in Berlin to leave the country was an inevitable response to fresh allegations of U.S. spying on Berlin, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Friday.
Officials said the U.S. spy chief would be leaving the country soon.
“Our decision to ask the current representative of the U.S. intelligence services to leave Germany is the right decision, a necessary step and a fitting reaction to the break of trust which has occurred,” Steinmeier told reporters.
“Taking action was unavoidable, in my opinion. We need and expect a relationship based on trust.”
He said a strong transatlantic partnership was especially important now given international crises. He would tell U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry when they meet in Vienna at the weekend for talks on Iran’s nuclear programme that Germany was eager to revive that partnership on the basis of mutual trust. . .