

Edward Snowden submits asylum applications - teawithcarl
http://wikileaks.org/Edward-Snowden-submits-asylum.html

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kylelibra
Austria

Bolivia

Brazil

China

Cuba

Finland

France

Germany

India

Italy

Ireland

Netherlands

Nicaragua

Norway

Poland

Russia

Spain

Switzerland

Venezuela

~~~
Spooky23
Ireland? The Irish government cooperates with US government better than many
US States.

Sounds like Mr. Snowden's run is winding down.

~~~
davorak
It seems unlikely that if they offered asylum they would then reject it after
he arrived in the country. An application can not hurt and makes it likely for
the country to make a public statement.

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kailuowang
The question here is if that government is willing to encourage such leak
against secret agencies of a government. If a government granted Snowden such
asylum, what kind of signal it sends to its own employees?

I am a supporter of Snowden, but I doubt there is a "free" government that
will take the same side as Snowden against the U.S. government. Snowden might
have a better chance with a government that deem U.S. government as an enemy
such as Cuba. But there might be a dilemma that the U.S. government can
portrait him as one that took the enemy's side.

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hkmurakami
Hmm. Ecuador afaik has been wavering a bit under US diplomatic pressure in the
past week as far as I could tell, but I wonder if these now applications will
impel them to act wrt Snowden. I imagine the courtry derives some benefit from
being the mindshare owner as safehaven for the recent whisteblowers.

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staunch
Smart move including all these countries. The media in each country will
report on it, and the citizens will be forced to think about it. A groundswell
may form in one of them.

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tszyn
While it would make me proud if my country granted asylum to Snowden, I'm
quite sure that no European politician will dare provoke the wrath of the
American Empire -- there would be no clear benefits but obvious disadvantages.

~~~
mbillie1
IANAL and I know nothing about the logistics/legality of this, but is it
possible to appeal to the EU at large rather than specific nations? Or for a
nation receiving such an application to appeal to the EU for validation of its
acceptance of that application? It seems like "Germany, with the support of
the EU" would be more weighty than "Germany", just as an example.

~~~
haldujai
The EU has been trying to do this for over a decade [1] but it hasn't been
fully implemented yet.

That said they have implemented a directive [1] on how to handle asylum
requests which is a great improvement on the previous system of the lowest
standards of any relevant country are applied to all of the requests.

[1][http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-
do/policies/asy...](http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-
do/policies/asylum/index_en.htm)

I think the issue preventing a common system is state sovereignty. States,
like us, really dislike giving up their rights and liberties, such as the
right to deny access to a non-citizen. A common system would force states to
accept asylum seekers despite their desires and interests, which could damage
foreign relations. Not that this should be a factor in deciding whether to
grant asylum.

~~~
mbillie1
> States, like us, really dislike giving up their rights and liberties, such
> as the right to deny access to a non-citizen. A common system would force
> states to accept asylum seekers despite their desires and interests, which
> could damage foreign relations.

And it's tricky, when you might have asylum requests between EU nations. I
understand the complexities. It just seems that, even if merely a vocalization
(like the US Senate "resolutions"), it could carry some weight to have
numerous EU countries vocalize their support for something like this. Although
perhaps I am simply naive.

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teawithcarl
A large contingent of mainstream European nations included. Europe stepping
forward to defend Snowden and stand against surveillance may tilt the balance.
Europe is quite angry about being the "OK to do 100% surveillance on"
foreigners.

~~~
sneak
Well, except the UK and Germany, who both secretly participated (and
presumably benefitted in return). It's hard to find bigger influencers of the
EU than those two. :/

[http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/nsa-spies-
on-500...](http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/nsa-spies-
on-500-million-german-data-connections-a-908648.html)

Though, if it ends up being France, I will run out and buy a TV just to watch
the stupidity that will come out of TV news afterward. :D

~~~
teawithcarl
Germany's in the list, and a solid candidate due to their past WWII disdain
for surveillance, as well as Germany's privacy concerns about the Internet.

~~~
spullara
You must have missed the law in Germany that went into effect.

~~~
teawithcarl
Perhaps so.

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llamataboot
Some of these seem like shots in the dark, but I can't imagine both Cuba and
Venezuela not offering Snowden asylum if he can get there. They really have
nothing to lose in the pissing-the-US off department.

an EU country offering asylum would indeed be huge, I just can't see it
happening.

------
wielebny
Scanned Snowden application received by polish government:
[http://www.tvn24.pl/msz-polska-nie-ma-interesu-w-
udzieleniu-...](http://www.tvn24.pl/msz-polska-nie-ma-interesu-w-udzieleniu-
azylu-snowdenowi,336820,s.html)

~~~
tcoppi
Interesting, he says he is a US citizen in that letter, but didn't he say he
was "stateless" recently?

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llomlup
I would have asked Serbia as well. Although they're a small country, they
could resist US because of Snowden. They have been bombarded by NATO and
later, they've been forced to accept a secession of Kosovo.

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nateabele
Man, so many republics, but all we ever hear is 'democracy, democracy,
democracy'.

Gee, I wonder why...

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shmerl
Why is Iceland not in the list? Weren't they one of the first who offered an
asylum?

~~~
cynix
"The requests join or update others previously made including to the Republic
of Ecuador and the Republic of Iceland."

