Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to appear on Thursday before an investigative committee of the German parliament looking into the extent of National Security Agency (NSA) spying and alleged cooperation by the country’s own intelligence service.
The session will centre on allegations of eavesdropping on one of Merkel’s mobile phones in 2013.
It have prompted outrage among citizens and brought about a diplomatic spat that that soured relations between her government and the Obama White House.
Merkel said at the time that “spying among friends” was unacceptable.
However, subsequent reports said that Germany’s Bundesnachrichtendienst intelligence agency, which is overseen by Merkel’s chancellery, spied on allies on behalf of the U.S.
The Bundestag inquiry has included some 100 sessions over the course of three years.
The German phone-tapping revelations came from a trove of documents detailing spying practices by the U.S. and allied intelligence agencies leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
The committee’s final report is expected to be released at the end of June.
