Europe needs to take a clear stance on US President Donald Trump's executive order targeting nationals from Muslim-majority countries, German President Joachim Gauck said on Saturday.

Last week, Trump signed an executive order that barred passport-holders from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days. The order also indefinitely suspended the US refugee program for Syrians, citing national security concerns.

The order sent shockwaves around the world, with tens of thousands of previously approved visas invalidated due to the ban. A US federal judge temporarily suspended the order on Friday, but the White House has said it will work to reinstate the ban.

"We should speak out very clearly on this," Gauck said in an interview published Saturday in five European daily newspapers.

"The imposed entry ban implies that people of Muslim faith and people with a certain origin are dangerous," Gauck said. "It is incompatible with our concepts of human dignity, equality and religious freedom."

He added that these were once values that Europeans shared with the Americans - values that the United States once upheld "during the darkest time in Europe's history" and returned to the continent.

'Populism is a fire accelerant for fear'

During the interview, Gauck also reiterated his commitment to the European project in comments with the newspapers "NRC Handelsblad" (The Netherlands), "The Guardian" (UK), "Le Monde" (France), "La Stampa" (Italy) and "El Pais" (Spain).

Facing a growing wave of populism in Europe, Gauck pushed for more dialogue to allay people's fears concerning immigration and globalization.

"Populism is a fire accelerant for fear," warned the German president. He added that rational discourse will not suffice to ease the concerns of those who feel left behind and that politicians should speak in ways that only elites can understand.

"We need an even more intense dialogue, more real encounters with those who are afraid," Gauck said

Still, the German president said Europe needs to improve the security of its external borders and improve "legal access routes" for those seeking asylum in Europe.

Gauck has held the largely ceremonial role of German president since 2012 and is due to leave office in March.

On February 12, Germany's Federal Assembly will vote on who will succeed Gauck. Former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected to be selected for the post.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far A quick way to fulfill campaign promises Less than a month into his presidency, Donald Trump has issued 17 executive actions. While this number in itself is not remarkable - by the same time, Barack Obama had signed roughly the same number of executive orders - the content of Trump's decrees is. It seems the new president wants to implement many of his campaign promises - including the controversial ones - as quickly as possible.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Executive orders and presidential memoranda Executive actions (EA) allow the US president to give government agencies orders that do not need Congressional approval, circumventing the law-making process and speeding up the implementation process. Executive orders are a more wide-reaching form of EA that often deal with larger organizational directives, while presidential memoranda order specific agencies to do something.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Weakening Obamacare Executive Order: The first executive order that Trump signed was a missive on deferring, waving or delaying parts of the Affordable Care Act to "minimize regulatory burdens." While Trump alone can not repeal the healthcare law instated under President Obama, he can undermine the implementation of "Obamacare" while the Republican majority in Congress prepares to repeal the law.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Pulling federal funding for abortion advice Presidential Memorandum: Trump re-instated a policy that bars US federal funding for non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling and advocate for abortion rights. This directive was initially instated by Republican president Ronald Reagan, rescinded by Democrat Bill Clinton, re-instated by Republican George W. Bush and again rescinded by Democrat Barack Obama.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Deportation of undocumented immigrants Executive Order: Trump ordered immigration agents to vastly expand the scope of deportations. He wants federal grants to be pulled from sanctuary cities (where undocumented migrants are not prosecuted) and immigrants suspected of a crime to be detained, even if they were not charged. He plans to hire 10,000 new immigration agents and publish a report on crimes committed by undocumented immigrants.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Building the Wall Executive Order: In an executive order signed on January 25, President Trump called for "the immediate construction of a physical wall" in order to secure the US-Mexico border. He also referred to undocumented immigrants as "removable aliens," saying that the executive branch should "end the abuse of parole and asylum provisions currently used to prevent the lawful removal of removable aliens."

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Travel ban and halting refugee intake Executive Order: Trump signed this controversial order on January 27. It banned people from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the US for three months, stopped the Syrian refugee program indefinitely and suspended refugee admissions for 120 days. Protests against the order erupted across the country and even Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham criticized the policy.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far The United States pulls out of TPP Memorandum: It was no surprise that Donald Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). During his campaign, he frequently criticized the TPP and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), saying that other countries benefited from these trade agreements at the expense of the US. Press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump prefered deals with individual countries.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Oil pipelines, if they're made from US steel Three different memoranda: One on constructing the Dakota Access Pipeline, another on continuing construction of the Keystone pipeline, and a third order on using American materials to build all pipelines - were issued on Trump's fourth day in office. Barack Obama had denied permits to both pipelines after massive protests from environmentalists, who feared the potential impact of spills.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Expand the military, freeze other government hiring Memoranda: Trump quickly lived up to his campaign promise to invest in a bigger military, signing a memorandum for more troops, warships and a modernized nuclear arsenal a week into his presidency. Four days earlier, he ordered a freeze on the hiring of new civilian employees in federal agencies for up to 90 days, so that his administration could develop a long-term plan to shrink the workforce.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Lobbying, National Security Council and IS Executive order: Every new government appointee will sign an ethics pledge that bans them from working as a lobbyist for five years after leaving their post and from ever lobbying the US government for other countries. On the same day, he issued two further memoranda ordering the Department of Defense to formulate a plan to defeat IS within 30 days and to reorganize the National Security Council.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Steve Bannon in the National Security Council Memorandum: Trump ordered an overhaul of the National Security Council (NSC) to elevate the role of Stephen Bannon. He removed several senior members from the foreign policy decision-making panel while Trump's chief strategist, known for his far-right views, will serve on the committee usually staffed with generals. This breaks with the long-held norm of not appointing political actors to the NSC.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Deregulate, deregulate, deregulate Executive Orders and Memorandum: Trump wants federal agencies to eliminate at least two prior regulations for every new regulation. He ordered a freeze on new and pending federal regulations, until a Trump-appointed department head could revise them. He also asked for the approval of "high priority infrastructure projects" to be sped up.

Fast work: Donald Trump's executive actions so far Presidential precedent President Barack Obama issued a total of 277 executive orders - an average of roughly three per month, slightly fewer than his predecessor George W. Bush at 291. However, Obama issued 644 presidential memoranda during his time in office to get around blocks in Congress - a precedent Trump appears to be following. Author: Rebecca Staudenmaier, Mara Bierbach



rs/sms (AFP, dpa, epd, KNA)