German chancellor Angela Merkel used her first phone call with US president Donald Trump to reject his new immigration bans on refugees and citizens of seven Muslim countries.
"She is convinced that the necessary, decisive battle against terrorism does not justify blanket suspicion towards people of a particular background or belief," said Dr Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert.
In their conversation, the German leader reminded Mr Trump of US obligations to accept people seeking asylum on humanitarian grounds under the Geneva Convention. “All signatories are committed to this,” said Mr Seibert. “The chancellor explained this policy in her telephone call with the US president.”
Berlin has vowed to examine the consequence of Mr Trump's executive order for people with dual US-German citizenship.
Dr Merkel's Social Democrat (SPD) challenger Martin Schulz insisted the transatlantic relationship would remain a foundation of German foreign policy, but dismissed US president Donald Trump as "outrageous and dangerous".
