2024-03-11 21:50:14
Former Federal President Christian Wulff has called for more calm and tolerance in dealing with Muslims in Germany. This also applies to the current excitement surrounding Ramadan decorations in downtown Frankfurt. He “never thought that there would be such major national debates about it.” “You should leave the church in the village. If cities send certain signals to their Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities, then that should be decided locally,” said Wulff on the WELT news channel.
Following a city council resolution, a decoration with stars, crescents and the words “Happy Ramadan” has been shining in Frankfurt’s “Freßgass” since Sunday. “There are many Muslims in the Frankfurt region who are now having Ramadan,” said Wulff. “And if you show that we perceive that, we take note of that, then for me it is a question of tolerance and completely okay,” Wulff continued. He spoke of a “very important signal at a time when the captain of our national soccer team is Muslim, when 5,000 Muslim soldiers are serving in the Bundeswehr, risking their lives for our country and for our freedom.”
Wulff attributed the rejection to fundamental religious skepticism. He continued: “I want Christian Christmas carols to be sung in kindergartens and schools. Then you can also sing a Muslim song. If you celebrate Christmas extensively, you can also understand Ramadan. But if I’m as anti-religious as some people are, then I shouldn’t be surprised that Christianity is being pushed back. No, Christmas, we want to celebrate it everywhere. But then you can also allow those who are now celebrating Ramadan to be remembered.”
More about Ramadan lighting
In principle, Wulff welcomed religiously motivated social commitment. From his time as prime minister, he knows that it is easier to govern “if I have many Christians who are committed out of Christian charity, if I have Jews, if I also have Muslims who want to take responsibility for their lives, than if I banish religion from public spaces.”
Former Federal President Wulff repeats Islam statement
In his speech on the 20th anniversary of German unification in 2010, Wulff said that Islam is now also part of Germany. This triggered a controversial debate. When asked whether he would repeat the sentence, Wulff said: “I keep repeating it because for me it is a reflection of the realities in Germany. We have millions of German Muslims, Muslim Germans.” However, religion is only one characteristic of a person, he emphasized.
“Islam now belongs to Germany. That’s how I said it and that’s how I say it,” said Wulff. Therefore, the resulting issues must be dealt with. This includes, for example, Islamic religious instruction in German or the training of imams in Germany on the basis of the Basic Law.
More on the topic of Islam
Ditib, the largest Islamic association in Germany, has so far had imams sent by the Turkish religious authority Diyanet preach in its mosques. According to the federal government’s plans, there should be more German imams in the future. Wulff welcomed this. If you don’t want foreign influence, “then we have to take up the issue here and address it here and not act in such a xenophobic, intolerant way as if we didn’t understand the Basic Law,” said Wulff.
“Our constitution says: Everyone can believe, but they don’t have to believe. And everyone can believe what they want and they can practice their faith in our country. That is the basic law. Everyone should take that in,” explained the former Federal President in the interview.
Wulff: Without migrants in football in a league with Liechtenstein
Wulff also commented on current problems in migration and asylum policy. In his opinion, the high number of asylum seekers in Germany, the ongoing illegal migration and the excessive demands on municipalities when it comes to accommodation are solvable tasks. “All the clever suggestions are on the table,” said Wulff.
He referred to stronger controls on the EU’s external borders, asylum procedures in third countries and deportations. “There is a lack of political action. I complain about that too,” said Wulff. “But of course I also complain that, from the perspective of integration, we discuss petty crime, terror, excessive demands, social abuse, but do not see what potential young people have there.”
Wulff, who is also chairman of the Deutschlandstiftung Integration, expanded on this point: “We have to be fair and recognize that the receptionist at our family doctor has a migration background, the logistician who brings the package, the researcher who brought us the vaccine has a migration background. One in five people at the DFB has a migration background. We couldn’t play at the European Championships without Musiala, without Gnabry, without Sané. Just relying on those who have been in Germany for hundreds of years would mean we would be competing with Liechtenstein in football. That’s the reality.”
About the consequences of migration
Wulff also warned of a strengthening of the AfD. “These are real right-wing extremists who want to fundamentally change our country,” he said. Wulff definitely thinks a ban on the AfD is an option. “A ban and the deprivation of civil rights must be discussed again and again. The fathers of the Basic Law wrote this into the Basic Law so that we can take action against such opponents of the free order.”
However, a party ban process would take years. Therefore, he wants to provide the AfD with content. “People like me should concentrate on dealing with the AfD programmatically and telling the citizens: The AfD would lead our country to ruin; read what they write, what they say – and refrain from voting for this party,” said Wulff.
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