U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday signaled their willingness to repair a bilateral relationship strained by revelations about U.S. spying on Germany.
Addressing journalists alongside the chancellor before their meeting, Mr. Kerry called for 2014 to be "a year of renewal." However he offered no public assurance that Washington would refrain from further spying, as Berlin has demanded.
Mr. Kerry acknowledged the countries have been through a "rough period," after leaked documents from the fugitive former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden showed the U.S. National Security Agency monitored the German leader's cellphone. But Mr. Kerry said Germany and the U.S. "are partners above and beyond bumps in the road."
Ms. Merkel and Mr. Kerry also pledged to work together on other issues, such as eliminating Syria's chemical weapons and Iran's nuclear program, as well as forming a trans-Atlantic free-trade agreement.
In the first major address of her new term to parliament this past week, Ms. Merkel said she and Washington remained far apart in their views on espionage. She lashed out against the mass collection of communications data, which she said leads to mistrust between allies, ultimately diminishing security against threats like terrorism.
But the German leader struck a more conciliatory tone Friday, emphasizing the strength of the U.S.-German relationship. "Mutual interest will be the motor for finding common solutions step-by-step," Ms. Merkel said. "We talk about such questions [of NSA activities] openly even when there are differences."
German public opinion remains deeply sensitized by abuses of the Nazi-era Gestapo and former East Germany's Stasi secret police.
The revelations about the NSA over the past several months have led to calls by politicians across the political spectrum in Germany for rethinking ties with the U.S., which still keeps a large military presence here. Experts say that in reality, diminishing the relationship with the U.S. is unlikely, given Europe's dependence on the Americans for military security. "The tail doesn't wag the dog, there's a power differential and there isn't much you can do against it," said Josef Braml of the German Council on Foreign Relations.
Meantime, German officials say the country's leaders are beginning to grasp that the U.S. is unlikely to agree to concrete concessions to Berlin on spying. Lobbying for a "no-spy" alliance with Washington similar to the so-called Five Eyes alliance between the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand has so far proved fruitless.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, a close ally of Ms. Merkel, told ARD television that talks on a no-spy deal continue, "but I'm only narrowly optimistic that it will come to" fruition.
Germany "won't eliminate spying by condemning it," said Jan Techau, director of the think tank Carnegie Europe. The dependence of U.S. partners on its data-collection capabilities means Washington can offer Berlin only "soft gestures" and "little in terms of concrete steps" for its concerns, Mr. Techau added.
Addressing journalists alongside the chancellor before their meeting, Mr. Kerry called for 2014 to be "a year of renewal." However he offered no public assurance that Washington would refrain from further spying, as Berlin has demanded.
Mr. Kerry acknowledged the countries have been through a "rough period," after leaked documents from the fugitive former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden showed the U.S. National Security Agency monitored the German leader's cellphone. But Mr. Kerry said Germany and the U.S. "are partners above and beyond bumps in the road."
Ms. Merkel and Mr. Kerry also pledged to work together on other issues, such as eliminating Syria's chemical weapons and Iran's nuclear program, as well as forming a trans-Atlantic free-trade agreement.
In the first major address of her new term to parliament this past week, Ms. Merkel said she and Washington remained far apart in their views on espionage. She lashed out against the mass collection of communications data, which she said leads to mistrust between allies, ultimately diminishing security against threats like terrorism.
But the German leader struck a more conciliatory tone Friday, emphasizing the strength of the U.S.-German relationship. "Mutual interest will be the motor for finding common solutions step-by-step," Ms. Merkel said. "We talk about such questions [of NSA activities] openly even when there are differences."
German public opinion remains deeply sensitized by abuses of the Nazi-era Gestapo and former East Germany's Stasi secret police.
The revelations about the NSA over the past several months have led to calls by politicians across the political spectrum in Germany for rethinking ties with the U.S., which still keeps a large military presence here. Experts say that in reality, diminishing the relationship with the U.S. is unlikely, given Europe's dependence on the Americans for military security. "The tail doesn't wag the dog, there's a power differential and there isn't much you can do against it," said Josef Braml of the German Council on Foreign Relations.
Meantime, German officials say the country's leaders are beginning to grasp that the U.S. is unlikely to agree to concrete concessions to Berlin on spying. Lobbying for a "no-spy" alliance with Washington similar to the so-called Five Eyes alliance between the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand has so far proved fruitless.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, a close ally of Ms. Merkel, told ARD television that talks on a no-spy deal continue, "but I'm only narrowly optimistic that it will come to" fruition.
Germany "won't eliminate spying by condemning it," said Jan Techau, director of the think tank Carnegie Europe. The dependence of U.S. partners on its data-collection capabilities means Washington can offer Berlin only "soft gestures" and "little in terms of concrete steps" for its concerns, Mr. Techau added.
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