WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland says German Chancellor Angela Merkel is wrong to criticize European Union partners who are refusing to give refugee protection to Muslims.

Poland's deputy foreign minister, Konrad Szymanski, says in an interview Monday on state-run Radio Three that countries such as Poland that reject EU-negotiated refugee quotas are in line with the public mood and right to restrict asylum applicants.

Szymanski was responding to Kerkel's criticism of EU countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, that have rebuffed plans to share responsibility across the 28-nation bloc for sheltering people fleeing war and poverty.

Szymanski said: "I believe it is harmful to Europe and is already bringing far-reaching opposition." He said such views were common in Western Europe, where people "feel less and less safe in this context."