European Commissioner Günther Oettinger says Frauke Petry "is a disgrace for German politics." | EPA/Olivier Hoslet/Bernd Von Jutrczenka Oettinger on German far-right leader: ‘If she was my wife, I’d kill myself’

European Commissioner Günther Oettinger lashed out at a German right-wing leader as a "disgrace" for suggesting authorities tackle the largest migrant and refugee crisis in the Continent since World War II by "shooting refugees."

Frauke Petry, the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, said earlier this month that law enforcement officers should "use weapons if necessary" to prevent refugees from entering Germany.

“No policeman wants to fire on a refugee and I don’t want that either,” Petry said, adding that it could be necessary because police “must stop refugees entering on German soil.”

Oettinger, the commissioner for digital economy, did not hold back at an event in Berlin on Monday.

"This woman is a disgrace to German politics," said Oettinger, adding that Petry's comments were "inhuman and unacceptable."

If "Petry was my wife, I would kill myself tonight," Oettinger also said, according to a report by Deutschlandfunk.

On Tuesday, the commissioner backtracked on personal criticism, saying on his Twitter account that it was not directed at Petry, but at her party's proposal to control borders by "shooting refugees."

But Petry already fired back, telling Bild newspaper that she "wonders what Oettinger's wife had thought about his comments. Apparently, in the CDU, the role of husbands and wives is only to 'drive (spouses) to suicide.'"

Marcus Pretzell, AfD's chairman in North Rhine-Westphalia and Petry's partner, came to her defense, saying that Oettinger's criticism of the party chief is not the first comment he must ignore.