U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday it was "inappropriate" for Donald Trump to brand German Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy "a catastrophic mistake", APA reports quoting Reuters.
"I thought frankly it was inappropriate for a president-elect of the United States to be stepping into the politics of other countries in a quite direct manner," Kerry told CNN's Christiane Amanpour during a one-day visit to London in the last week of the Obama administration.
"He will have to speak to that. As of Friday, he is responsible for that relationship."
Trump, who will be sworn in as president on Friday, had said in a joint interview with Bild newspaper and the Times of London that he respected Merkel, but criticized her stance on refugees, which allowed a wave of more than 1 million refugees into Germany.
Merkel faces a tough re-election battle in September.
"I think we have to be very careful about suggesting that one's strongest leaders in Europe, and most important players with respect to where we are heading, made one mistake or another. I don't think it's appropriate for us to be commenting on that," Kerry said.
He rejected Trump's description of Merkel's refugee policy as "catastrophic".
"I think she was extremely courageous. I don't think it amounts to that characterization," Kerry said.
"It has had some problems, but everybody has had some problems with this challenge of how to respond as a big nation, a great nation, as the West, where our values, our principles are important with respect to caring for people who are in distress," he added.
The United States has admitted far fewer Syrian refugees than some allies, such as Germany. Trump has said violent militants could enter the country posing as refugees.
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