U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Wednesday to hold a high-level meeting of security officials from the two countries to discuss the U.S. National Security Agency's controversial surveillance programs.
The White House made the announcement in a statement hours after the two leaders discussed over phone the alleged surveillance of European officials by the security agency.
The European Union had sought a reply from the U.S. government following reports of the U.S. secret agency spying upon the European officials in the U.S. and Europe.
The White House said that President Obama assured German Chancellor Angela Merkel that his administration will take the concerns of the European Union seriously.
The allegations were initially reported by the German Magazine Der Spiegel linking its information to secret U.S. documents leaked by the former CIA analyst Edward Snowden who is currently holed up in the transit zone of an international airport hotel in Moscow awaiting a response to his asylum requests.
The American fugitive initially flew to Hong Kong and then to Russia following an arrest warrant issued by the Washington government on charges of espionage and theft of government property.
Snowden has made asylum requests to 21 countries including Ecuador, Russia, Norway, India and China. However several of these countries including India, Germany, Brazil and Norway have already rejected the American whistleblower's request.
President Obama has assigned vice president Joe Biden to make sure that no country "dares" to issue an asylum to the U.S. fugitive.
