“On German soil, German law applies – to everyone: Germans and foreigners, private citizens and companies, diplomats and embassies.

It is wrong to eavesdrop on friends and partners. Not only is it unlikely to yield much useful information, it is also very politically damaging, as we are seeing. It threatens to undermine relations that bind us together, relations we need more than ever today if we want to shape our common future in the globalised world of the 21st century.

I very much hope that this view is shared in Washington. Not everything that may be technically feasible makes good political sense.”