Ed Snowden and the shifting debate in Europe

In the summer of 2013, Edward Snowden took careful measures to avoid being ensnared in U.S. jurisdiction. After leaking a trove of classified documents to a handful of journalists around the world, he skipped work in Hawaii for a flight bound for Hong Kong (one of those international grey areas). He presented himself to the world in Hong Kong, only to quickly fall back into the shadows in an effort to find a safe place to live far from U.S. extradition. He resurfaced in Moscow, the U.S. had canceled his passport in transit and he would then spend 40 days in an airport transit zone attempting to find asylum in the Russian federation. At first, he was granted one years asylum. Currently, he is living in Moscow on a three year residency permit. However, his battle to find a less precarious home in the international community is on going. In 2013, Snowden applied to 21 countries seeking asylum. Their collective response? A resounding no with the exception of a few central/south american countries who were open to debating the idea. However, the entirety of Europe, including Germany, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands were all staunchly opposed.

Fast forward: it is the fall of 2015, and Edward Snowden is hunkering down for another frozen Russian winter. In late October, he receives some unexpected news. The European Union parliament narrowly voted (285-281) to protect snowden from extradition if he were to reside in an EU country. Not only did they approve such a possibility, but they also did it by defining Snowden and his actions in very certain terms. The EU parliament recognized snowden as an international human rights defender. The same countries that two years earlier had snubbed his request for help are now recognize his actions as a whistleblower as integral to defending human rights.

European countries did not have a change of heart overnight. Revelations stemming from Snowden's whistleblowing that directly implicated NSA spying on more than a few European countries started to shift the sphere of legitimate debate in Europe. It was revealed that the U.S. was tapping chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone and spying on the german government. It was also revealed that NSA was  spying on three different French executive administrations and listening to their phone calls as well. The NSA was legally capable of spying on any foreigner and they used this ability to monitor the personal communications of the U.S's allies. The Germans and the French bitterly denounced this spying as a breach of trust. However domestically, the publics were outraged. Because the snowden leaks had direct implications for our foreign allies, the sphere of legitimate debate began to shift in these european countries. Instead of being labeled simply as an unstable whistle blower, the debate was now open to also defend him as a human rights activist concerned with personal privacy. It has taken two years (and many european e-privacy/right to be forgotten legislation) for the EU community to theoretically offer Snowden asylum in a european country whose interests have now become aligned. This cultural shift and legislative approval can be considered a tremendous leap forward in how the international community is starting to interpret and interact with whistleblowers.