Germany’s Merkel acknowledges mishandling of spymaster dispute

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday acknowledged public misgivings about her handling of a dispute over the future of Germany’s spymaster, Reuters reports. The row over the future of the head of the BfV intelligence agency had threatened to unravel Merkel’s six-month-old government. “I focused too much on functionality and processes in the Interior Ministry and not enough on what moves people, rightly, when they hear of someone’s promotion. I regret very much that that was allowed to happen,” Merkel said. “It is important that we now solve the problems of the people,” she added. The three coalition parties agreed on Tuesday to transfer spy chief Hans-Georg Maassen to the Interior Ministry following accusations that he harbored far-right views.