US ‘interventionist policy’ destabilized Middle East: Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and German Vice Chancellor, Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel address a news conference on May 25, 2016 in Meseberg near Gransee, northeastern Germany (Photo by AFP)

Germany says the United States' wars and its “flawed interventionist policy” have destabilized the Middle East, leaving an increasing number of people fleeing the region to seek asylum in Europe.

Germany’s Deputy Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel made the remarks on Monday in an interview with the German Bild newspaper after US President-elect Donald Trump censured German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her stance on the refugee crisis.

In a joint interview with The Times of London and the Bild on Sunday, Trump said Merkel made “one very catastrophic mistake” by admitting more than 1 million migrants from the Middle East.

“I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from. And nobody even knows where they come from,” he said.

Gabriel said there is a link between “America’s flawed interventionist policy, especially the Iraq war, and the refugee crisis.”

“That’s why my advice would be that we shouldn’t tell each other what we have done right or wrong, but that we look into establishing peace in that region and do everything to make sure people can find a home there again,” he added.

Trump also hailed the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union as a “great thing,” arguing that the bloc is heavily influenced by Germany. In addition, he once again criticized NATO, and described the Western military alliance as “obsolete.”

Gabriel said Germany and Europe are “already making enormous achievements” in that area. “That’s why I also thought it wasn’t right to talk about defense spending, where Mr. Trump says we are spending too little to finance NATO. We are making gigantic financial contributions to refugee shelters in the region, and these are also the results of US interventionist policy.”

In his interview, Trump also said that his administration would slap a 35 percent tariffs on BMW cars imported into the United States.

Gabriel, who is also Germany’s minister for the economy, warned Trump that a custom duty on German imports would hurt US carmakers as well since they were reliant on transatlantic supply chains.

“I believe BMW’s biggest factory is already in the US, in Spartanburg [South Carolina],” he said.

“The US car industry would have a bad awakening if all the supply parts that aren’t being built in the US were to suddenly come with a 35% tariff,” he explained.

He warned that this “would make the US car industry weaker, worse and above all more expensive.”