There's No Such Thing as No Spying

The eavesdropping scandal with the U.S. intelligence service known as the National Security Agency is clearly still weighing down U.S.-German relations a lot — so much so that the acronym “NSA” was not mentioned once by Foreign Minister Steinmeier on his visit to the U.S. That was a real work of art on Steinmeier’s part. Espionage was the main topic of discussion over the past two days in Washington.

Steinmeier’s visit did not result in any important conclusions. Both sides have been bristling for months — pointlessly, it now seems, at least for the German side. Nothing remains of Berlin’s hoped for No-Spy Agreement, a mutual rejection of espionage. That is disappointing and shows how little the U.S. wants to deviate from its course. At this point, it is no longer certain if any agreement of substance will occur between the intelligence services. Steinmeier is clearly already resigned to this. He made many snappy comments about the NSA in the congressional election. He was still part of the opposition then. Now he is part of the government and views the situation very soberly. Too soberly.

Steinmeier does not go as far as French President Hollande, who on a visit to the U.S. recently explained that trust had been renewed. He at least warned of a new “logic of suspicion” between the U.S. and Germany. But an energetic demand for rights from millions of citizens looks different. After all, the U.S. intelligence services continue to take things too far.

On May 2, Chancellor Merkel is supposed to visit the U.S. Will she too avoid mentioning the NSA? It’s nearly impossible to exceed the chancellor in sobriety. She is meters ahead of Steinmeier in that regard. Everything is as of old: The Americans are giving the Germans the cold shoulder.

Why? Because they can.