German Chancellor and head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party Angela Merkel speaks at the congress of the youth wing of the CDU, Junge Union, in Potsdam, October 16, 2010. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Reuters: Merkel says German multiculturalism has failed
POTSDAM, Germany (Reuters) - Germany’s attempt to create a multicultural society has “utterly failed,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday, adding fuel to a debate over immigration and Islam polarizing her conservative camp.
Speaking to a meeting of young members of her Christian Democrats (CDU), Merkel said allowing people of different cultural backgrounds to live side by side without integrating had not worked in a country that is home to some four million Muslims.
“This (multicultural) approach has failed, utterly failed,” Merkel told the meeting in Potsdam, south of Berlin.
Merkel faces pressure from within her CDU to take a tougher line on immigrants who don’t show a willingness to adapt to German society and her comments appeared intended to pacify her critics.
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WNU Editor: All my European friends have been telling me for years that this progressive experiment in multiculturalism has been a dismal failure. Chancellor Angela Merkel is five years late. But I guess this debate depends on one's perspective. If you favour ethnic enclaves and ghettos then multiculturalism is a success. If you favour melting pots and cultural cohesion it is a failure. I live in Canada and it prides itself to be a multicultural society. But what I see in the Montreal suburb where I live in is the formation of ethnic/cultural ghettos, and a great deal of animosity .... especially among the French majority and its minority/immigrant communities. Is this progress .... no. And it is definitely not a success. But the political and media narrative is completely different.
