On Thursday, German Chancellery Peter Altmaier summoned US ambassador John Emerson over media reports that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had conducted long-term surveillance of Chancellor Angela Merkel and other federal officials.
The spokesman added that the German government has submitted its comments previously and "if necessary, will do it again."
Gunter Heiss, the German government’s intelligence coordinator testified before the Bundestag committee tasked with investigating the espionage scandal about his knowledge of the role German intelligence played in US eavesdropping on Thursday.
The head of the Bundestag’s committee, Patrick Sensburg, said the NSA had been spying on German citizens until 2012, in violation of the intelligence agencies’ mutual cooperation pacts.
