In an interview with Sputnik Germany, Bundestag MP and member of the German Die Linke Party André Hahn shared his impressions of the Chancellor's statements.
According to the politician, Merkel "has long been politics" and is capable of formulating things in a vague and diplomatic way. Thus, everyone expected that her answers would be very reserved, although Hahn, personally, did not assessed it positively.
"It was highly unlikely — although desirable — that Merkel would stand up and say, ‘yes, we made serious mistakes and violated various laws, so we learned the lesson and ask to forgive us,'" the politician told Sputnik Germany.
"This would be a clear, understandable answer, but unfortunately, Mrs. Merkel did not say anything," the politician noted, adding that the Chancellor's Office failed to fulfill its task of controlling the BND.
"The Chancellor's Office is responsible for control of the BND and completely failed its duty, this is confirmed by all the evidence we have received so far. It was said to not be aware or even not willing to know about it. This is equally bad and in any case can't be justified," Hahn stated.
In this regard, the politician demanded major changes no later than after the publication of the final results of the Committee's report, including the resignation of the employees responsible for the violation.
The investigatory committee into the German Bundestag was established in 2014 and was tasked with finding out how and to what extent foreign secret services had been spying on European citizens, including German high-ranking politicians and top-officials. Later, a series of documents also revealed that not only the NSA, but also the BND was actively involved in espionage against German citizens.
Thus, in 2015 media reports said that the BND had systematically spied on its friends and allies worldwide. According to Spiegel Online magazine, in many cases the BND carried out this policy on its initiative and not at the request of US intelligence.
