Merkel: Multiculturalism Has Failed

Maybe she sipped a bit too much during Oktoberfest, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stumbled to the right after she claimed that multiculturalism has “utterly failed,” stirring the proverbial cultural melting pot to suggest that immigrants have not effectively integrated into German society.

Merkel’s rightward lunge may have something to do with growing anti-immigrant sentiment within Germany. —JCL

The Guardian:

Speaking to a meeting of young members of her Christian Democratic Union party, Merkel said the idea of people from different cultural backgrounds living happily “side by side” did not work.

She said the onus was on immigrants to do more to integrate into German society.

“This [multicultural] approach has failed, utterly failed,” Merkel told the meeting in Potsdam, south of Berlin, yesterday.

Her remarks will stir a debate about immigration in a country which is home to around 4 million Muslims.

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AP / Clemens Bilan

German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses young members of her Christian Democratic Union Party.