German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck a conciliatory tone on immigration while offering an inclusive message on Islam in her first speech to parliament on Wednesday.
The chancellor directly contradicted her new interior minister-an old foe when it comes to the topic of refugees-Horst Seehofer, leader of the Christian Social Union.
Seehofer sparked a furore last week when he told the Bild newspaper that “Islam does not belong in Germany.”
“It is beyond question that our country was historically formed by Christianity and Judaism,” Merkel said. “But it’s also the case that with 4.5 million Muslims living with us, their religion, Islam, has also become a part of Germany.”
She acknowledged, however, that some Germans find that hard to accept.
Merkel said the atmosphere in Germany had become “polarized,” and the refugee crisis of recent years had challenged the country “in an unprecedented way.”
She noted that Turkish and Italian immigrants had played a vital role in the rebuilding of post-war Germany and that their families were part of mainstream life.
About 4.5 million Muslims live in Germany, and the majority rejects radicalism, the chancellor said.
Unusually for Merkel, she admitted that in retrospect, her initial hope that the chaos of the war in Syria wouldn’t harm Germany was naïve.
It soon became clear that the country wasn’t prepared for an influx of displaced people, she said, describing the taking in of more than a million refugees was a necessary “humanitarian exception.” (qz.com, Deutsche Welle)
