The German government said Thursday it is expelling a person it describes as the representative of U.S. foreign intelligence services based at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin. The move comes after two allegations emerged of Germans spying for the United States over the last week, claims prompting an investigation by German prosecutors of a suspect accused of passing secrets. The call comes against the background of the current investigation by the federal prosecutor and questions that have remained unresolved for months about the activity of U.S. intelligence in Germany. "The German government views these events as very serious," government spokesman Steffen Seibert said.
@highlight
Germany stresses "mutual trust"
@highlight
A White House spokesman declines to comment
@highlight
It's the second such case in a week
@highlight
Merkel: "If the reports are correct, it would be a serious case"
"The reason for that is there's an important principle at stake, which is declining to comment on them publicly allows for the sufficient protection of our national interests, in some cases the intelligence assets, and more generally, @placeholder national security," he said.