BERLIN (Sputnik) — Orlando shooting will not change Germany's policy of openness and tolerance, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday.
"Our hearts are heavy that hatred and malice of one man took lives of more than 50 people, I think I say this on behalf of all guests from Germany present here. But we firmly believe, even if such serious crimes cause us deep sorrow, in the continuation of our open, tolerant life," Merkel said at German-Chinese intergovernmental consultations in Beijing as posted on her official Twitter account.
She expressed her condolences for the families of the victims.
US President Barack Obama on Sunday called the deadly shooting in Orlando an "act of terror, act of hate," though the FBI said it had no immediate proofs of any direct ties between Omar and any foreign extremist groups.