“The effort to build a multicultural society in Germany has failed completely. In the past, we asked too little, although the demand for immigrants to learn German as well as possible, in order to have better chances in the labor market, was entirely correct and justified,” stated German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Young Union congress in Potsdam.
She emphasized that forced marriages are unacceptable, just as the practice of not allowing girls from migrant backgrounds to go on school trips cannot be accepted. “In the future, we must make more effort to expedite the processing of criminal offenses, just as we must no longer allow parts of some cities where the police dare not go or intervene,” concluded Merkel.
“We are not a social institution for the whole world”
The German Chancellor used the event in Potsdam to defend the recent statement by German President Christian Wulff, who said that “Islam is part of Germany,” which provoked strong reactions from some members of the Union. “Islam is part of German society, and this is not only demonstrated by the example of footballer Mesut Özil,” emphasized the Chancellor just a few days after the regional conference of Christian Democrats in Berlin, where she stated that “German society relies on a Christian worldview and humanity, and that is what makes us who we are. Those who cannot accept this do not belong here.”
Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU leader Horst Seehofer agreed with the Chancellor. At the Young Union event, he also emphasized the importance of integrating everyone and appealed to foreigners living in Germany. “Those who live here must respect our culture and rules of conduct in this country,” said Seehofer, adding that integration, in his opinion, means respecting Christian values, education, as well as so-called self-integration that comes from personal efforts. “Without knowledge of the German language, this is not possible. We cannot be some kind of social institution for the whole world,” said the President of the CSU of Bavaria, adding that “multi-culti is just dead letters on paper.”
