Angela Merkel | GlobalPost

Obama defends U.S. intelligence strategy in wary Berlin

Thomson ReutersJune 19, 2013 12:09

By Jeff Mason and Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - President Barack Obama defended U.S. anti-terrorism tactics on a visit to Berlin on Wednesday, telling wary Germans Washington was not spying on the emails of ordinary citizens and promising to step up efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. On the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, Obama made his first presidential visit to the German capital, a favored destination of U.S. leaders during the Cold War.

Internet monitoring must have proper limits, Merkel tells Obama

Thomson ReutersJune 19, 2013 08:06

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel told U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday that government monitoring of Internet communications needed to remain within proper limits. "I made clear that although we do see the need for gathering information, the topic of proportionality is always an important one and the free democratic order is based on people feeling safe," Merkel said at a joint news conference with Obama.

Obama arrives in Berlin for talks with Merkel

Agence France-PresseJune 18, 2013 18:30

Barack Obama arrived for his first visit as US president to Berlin on Tuesday for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and a major open-air speech at the city's Brandenburg Gate. Obama arrived at Berlin's Tegel Airport from Northern Ireland where he and Merkel took part in a G8 summit dominated by the bloodshed in Syria and a bid by the European Union and the United States to create the world's biggest free trade area.

Obama arrives in Berlin for talks with Merkel

Agence France-PresseJune 18, 2013 15:30

Merkel's conservatives say Turkey would overburden EU

Thomson ReutersJune 18, 2013 09:36

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have rejected Turkish membership in the European Union in their German election program, saying the country would "overburden" the bloc because of its size and economy. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), have long opposed Turkey joining the 27-nation bloc, but haven't stood in the way of EU accession talks that were launched shortly before Merkel took office.

'Shocked' Merkel hardens line on Turkey crackdown

Agence France-PresseJune 17, 2013 12:03

Germany, home to the world's largest Turkish expatriate community, gave its strongest condemnation to date Monday of Ankara's violent crackdown on protests, with Chancellor Angela Merkel warning the government to respect democratic freedoms. In the toughest comments by a European leader since the weekend sweep by security forces in major Turkish cities, Merkel blasted the response as heavy-handed.

Merkel to seek answers from Obama on online snooping

Agence France-PresseJune 17, 2013 08:32

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday she was surprised by revelations of mass US online surveillance and that she would call for "transparency" on its scope in talks with President Barack Obama this week. Merkel confirmed in an interview with commercial broadcaster RTL that she would discuss with Obama an issue which has caused deep unease in Germany, where memories of the East German Stasi's spying on citizens are still raw. "I will call for more transparency," said Merkel, who grew up in the communist East.

Germany's Merkel 'appalled' by Turkey's response to protests

Thomson ReutersJune 17, 2013 07:38

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she was shocked at Turkey's tough response to anti-government protests but she stopped short of demanding that the European Union call off accession talks with the candidate country. "I'm appalled, like many others," Merkel said of Turkey's handling of two weeks of unrest that began over a redevelopment project in an Istanbul park but has grown into broader protest against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Obama looks to harness JFK magic on Berlin visit

Agence France-PresseJune 16, 2013 06:50

Barack Obama will walk in John F. Kennedy's footsteps this week on his first visit to Berlin as US president, but encounter a more powerful and sceptical Germany in talks on trade and secret surveillance practices. Observers say Obama has cultivated an effective if "workmanlike" relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe's most influential leader, mirroring a sobering of transatlantic ties since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Merkel says reform of German renewable energy law is urgent

Thomson ReutersJune 12, 2013 06:33

BERLIN (Reuters) - Tackling a controversial reform of the system of German subsidies to the renewable energy sector is the most urgent task facing Chancellor Angela Merkel's government in terms of energy policy, she said on Wednesday. "Dealing with the renewable energy reform is the most urgent of the energy topics, in my view," Merkel told a conference of the BDEW utility industry group, three months before an election. (Reporting by Vera Eckert and Madeline Chambers)