Berlin, May 04: Germany’s interior minister hit out at moves in Belgium and France to ban the wearing of the full Islamic veil or burqa in public, saying even a debate would be “unnecessary.”
Such a move is “inappropriate and therefore not required,” Thomas de Maiziere said, according to excerpts of an interview published by the Leipziger Volkszeitung local daily.
President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government is drafting a bill that would make it illegal to wear the face-covering veil, making France the second European country after Belgium to move toward a ban.
Belgian MPs approved a bill last week. It will not enter into force for weeks and may have to be re-examined if early elections are called as Belgium battles a political crisis.
Both countries have drawn fire from rights campaigners and Muslim groups.
On Sunday German MEP Silvana Koch-Mehrin, European parliament vice-president and a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s junior coalition partners, called for a Europe-wide ban.
Italian police fined a Muslim woman 500 euros (650 dollars) for wearing a full Islamic veil in a street in the northern city of Novara, possibly the first such incident in Italy, city officials said Tuesday.
The city is a stronghold of the anti-immigration Northern League, allies to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and adopted a decree in January banning the burqa in public places, Mauro Franzinelli of the municipal police said.
While there is no specific legislation on the burqa, covering the face in public — even with a motorcycle helmet — has been banned in Italy since 1975.
—Agencies