Migrant Rift: Merkel’s Conservative Allies Declare ‘Islam Not A German Tradition’

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU), have rebuffed her “open door” approach to the European migrant crisis, echoing the concerns of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban who declared his opposition to vast numbers of Muslims taking residence in European countries. 

In an interview with the Bild newspaper, Edmund Stoiber, the Chairman of CSU – the Bavarian regional political party that Mrs. Merkel relies upon for her coalition’s parliamentary dominance – said that he didn’t recognise the German Chancellor’s comments when she claimed “We can do it” about Germany’s approach to the migrant crisis.

In January 2015, Mrs. Merkel declared that “Islam belongs to Germany” in a speech aimed at rebuking anti-immigration protesters.

“Former president Wulff said Islam belongs to Germany. That is true. I also hold this opinion,” she said, hours ahead of the anti-immigration PEGIDA marches in a number of German cities.

But the Chairman of her sister party the CSU said he disagreed.

“I don’t adopt this proposition”, he told Bild.

“The Muslims belong to Germany, not Islam. Islam is not a core element of German culture and also is not part of our history and tradition.

“When people talk about the fact that changed Germany, then one thing must be clear: we Germans have grown a dominant culture, which is also enshrined in Basic Laws: tolerance, press and religion, and in our relationship to Israel. This dominant culture of the Basic Law cannot be for disposal, no matter how many immigrants come to us”.

His comments, especially about Islam and Israel, are sure to stoke tensions in the alliance between the two parties, especially as Mrs. Merkel is under fire from local authorities, especially in Bavaria, where the politics are more conservative and Christian-dominated than that of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

One of her party’s grandees, Kurt Biedenkopf, acknowledged today that her motivations were towards Germany’s long term economic plan – perhaps ignoring the cultural impact of mass migration on Germany, something her CSU colleagues appear to be mindful of.

Mr. Wulff’s comments come shortly after Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban warned that Christianity could become a minority religion in Europe if the current migration wave were to continue. He was pilloried by the liberal-Left and mainstream, Western media for his comments.

Sweden’s firebrand MP Kent Ekeroth told Breitbart London last week that he believed his country was being “Islamised” by a recent wave of immigration.