--- title: Obama: “There’s no country where we have a no-spy agreement” description: President Barack Obama said Tuesday there is no country where the United States has committed not to engage in espionage. canonical: https://time.com/6398/obama-theres-no-country-where-we-have-a-no-spy-agreement/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-02-11T18:42:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:22:00.442Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama: “There’s no country where we have a no-spy agreement” og:description: President Barack Obama said Tuesday there is no country where the United States has committed not to engage in espionage. og:url: https://time.com/6398/obama-theres-no-country-where-we-have-a-no-spy-agreement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45bcbdfdd8a6316e/6986828155a8596a79a7f63f/468675685-copy-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: President Obama And President Hollande Hold Joint News Conference In The East Room og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama: “There’s no country where we have a no-spy agreement” twitter:description: President Barack Obama said Tuesday there is no country where the United States has committed not to engage in espionage. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45bcbdfdd8a6316e/6986828155a8596a79a7f63f/468675685-copy-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama: “There’s no country where we have a no-spy agreement” > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Feb 11, 2014 6:42 PM UTC  President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande arrive for a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House on Feb. 11, 2014 in Washington. President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande arrive for a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House on Feb. 11, 2014 in Washington.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Feb 11, 2014 6:42 PM UTC President Barack Obama said Tuesday there is no country where the United States has committed not to engage in espionage. Speaking at a joint press conference with French President Francois Hollande, Obama was asked whether his choice of France for the first state visit of the second term indicated a new special relationship that would result in an extension of a so-called “no-spy” agreement with the European ally. “There’s no country where we have a no-spy agreement,” Obama replied. The so-called “Five Eyes,” Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, have shared intelligence information since the end of World War II. Those sharing agreements don’t include a ban on spying in the other country. But Obama highlighted changes he ordered agencies to make to curtail direct surveillance of foreign leaders after such programs were revealed by Edward Snowden. Speaking after Obama, Hollande said he and Obama had put the controversy behind them, but said there must be an expectation of privacy for ordinary people around the world. “Following the revelations that appeared due to Snowden, we clarified things, Mr. Obama and myself, we clarified things. 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