EU foreign policy chief brands Trump's ban on refugees 'not European way'

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European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Monday said that the bloc will continue to host refugees and that the Trump administration's ban on them "is not the European way."

"This is not the European way. The European Union will continue to first of all take care of and host Syrian refugees and others who are fleeing from war," Mogherini said at a press conference following a meeting with Norwegian Foreign Minister Borg Brende in Brussels.

Demonstrators during a candlelight vigil in front of the US Supreme Court to call on US President Trump to reverse his administration's immigration restrictions in Washington DC on January 30, 2017. /CFP Photo

"The European Union strongly believes in a system that is based on international rules and norms, full respect of all individuals, regardless of their religion, of their ethnic background or their country or nationality or gender and we will continue to be this way," she said.

Mogherini promised that the EU will "continue to work in a sense of cooperation and respect with all the countries of the region, regardless of the religion of their population."

Under the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on Friday, refugees from all over the world have been barred from entering the United States for 120 days while all immigration from countries deemed to be hotbeds of terrorism is suspended for 90 days.

College students at the University of California, San Diego demonstrate against President Donald Trump's immigration orders in La Jolla, California, US, on January 30, 2017. /CFP Photo

Countries included in the ban are Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The total population of these countries exceeds 130 million.

The ban has sparked chaos at US international airports and protests nationwide in the past few days.

It triggered angry responses even in Britain, an intimate ally of the United States.

A petition calling on the British government to cancel a planned state visit to Britain by Trump has been signed by more than a million people.

Downing Street has insisted the visit by the US president will go ahead despite the outpouring of disapproval.

(With inputs from Xinhua)

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