Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected an outright ban on burkas but described the full veil as an impediment to integration in Germany.
Her remarks pre-empted a meeting of state interior ministers from her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) that was expected to end on Friday with demands for a full public ban on burkas.
After the chancellor’s intervention, the state interior ministers have watered down their demand. Their federal colleague Thomas de Maizière, who would have to legislate for any ban, had already said any such ban would likely fall foul of the constitutional court.
On Thursday in Stuttgart Mr de Maizière said that showing one’s face was “constitutive for our society” and called for a debate on “how to get everyone to think so”.
Dr Merkel said, in an interview to appear on Friday, that the burka was a “political and legal consideration” and that her interior minister had her “full support” in the search for a solution.
“From my perspective, a fully-veiled woman in Germany has scarcely a chance to integrate herself,” she said.
Redrafted demands
In an apparent bid to avoid conflict with Berlin, state interior ministers have redrafted their draft demands, leaked last week, calling instead for a ban on veils in public service jobs, kindergartens, schools, universities and in court.
In addition the ministers are to call for a ban where identification is necessary, such as at passport or traffic controls. A final ban, they said, should operate at public demonstrations or while driving.
Fines would be minor, however, with ministers suggesting breaches of the ban be classified as misdemeanours.
The CDU state minister demands came in response to last month’s attacks in southern Germany.
German president Joachim Gauck weighed in to the debate, drawing a link between the burka ban proposal and a series of state elections in the coming months, culminating in September 2017’s federal election.
“Making bold statements is part of the process, but we have a federal government and the interior minister has made clear that we won’t be banning burkas or dual citizenship,” he said.
As well as burka restrictions, state ministers want an extra 15,000 police employed by 2020, three times the level proposed by Berlin’s federal government last week.
Dr Merkel said she supported demands for more police and wider video surveillance in public areas “and everything to ensure security”. Given the radicalisation of Islamists through social media, she said Germany needed to discuss “how many new laws we need on this front”.
