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Are Germany's leading political parties capable of sacrificing Edward Snowden, on whose behalf many celebrities are calling for asylum, on the altar of German-US relations?
On November 3, Chancellor Angel Merkel reiterated that "the transatlantic alliance remains of superior import for Germans". As for the Social Democrat Party, says TAZ, it "is concerned first and foremost with the German-US relationship" despite the fact that "when it was in the opposition, [current head] Sigmar Gabriel defended the idea of protection for whistle-blowers in Germany".
"The Federal Republic sees itself as a moral society," warns TAZ—
Germans – a little more than other Europeans – like to be on the right side, at least if it's not too uncomfortable. [...] In the Snowden case, it is a moral issue – but it has a price. It may even be quite high. If the government provides asylum [...] to Snowden, there would be a problem. [...] Berlin would then be ranked among the enemies of the United States.
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