>Furthermore, all large countries, like Britain, France and Germany, engage in this kind of espionage against "friendly" countries
That may well be, but without having any inside knowledge I'm pretty sure that the extent to which such incidents damage relations depends on more than a yes/no question. How was this done and why? Were any non-public inter-agency agreements or silent understandings breached? Was the UK acting alone on this or with the US?
I think all of this could influence the mood in the negotiations now taking place over the future security collaboration between the EU and the UK.
This incident will certainly not be the most important consideration by far. That would be just crazy. But it could add to the potential distrust of a UK now desperately dependent on getting into the good graces of the US, which isn't exactly seen as a staunch defender of the rule of law outside US territory.
The major question isn’t motive, it’s just “did you get caught...” and the modifier, “...publicly?” Even then it might not matter beyond some bad publicity; the UK still copies up to Russia for its gas suppply, and the murder of someone with a radiological weapon on UK soil didn’t stop that. The Israelis stole American nuclear material and secrets, and we’re still close.
Countries don’t have friends, they have interests, and allies.
>The major question isn’t motive, it’s just “did you get caught...”
I'm not in a position to know, but I find that unlikely. Say GCHQ was using Belgacom to spy on some Belgium based terror suspects ignoring Belgian privacy laws. Would that really be the same as if they had been spying on the Belgian government or on EU institutions in Brussels? I think not.
That may well be, but without having any inside knowledge I'm pretty sure that the extent to which such incidents damage relations depends on more than a yes/no question. How was this done and why? Were any non-public inter-agency agreements or silent understandings breached? Was the UK acting alone on this or with the US?
I think all of this could influence the mood in the negotiations now taking place over the future security collaboration between the EU and the UK.
This incident will certainly not be the most important consideration by far. That would be just crazy. But it could add to the potential distrust of a UK now desperately dependent on getting into the good graces of the US, which isn't exactly seen as a staunch defender of the rule of law outside US territory.