Germany: Should Migrants Integrate?
"We are an open society. We show our face. We do not wear burkas."

by Soeren Kern • May 19, 2017 at 5:00 am

The list makes no mention of German culture as being the guiding or core culture (Leitkultur), nor does the task force explicitly demand that migrants assimilate to the German way of life. Rather, the guiding principles appear to be aimed at encouraging Germans to embrace the foreign cultural norms that migrants bring to Germany.
"We cannot ask anyone to respect our customs if we are not ready to articulate them.... Our country is shaped by Christianity.... Germany is part of the West, culturally, spiritually and politically speaking." — German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière.
Proponents of a Leitkultur argue that it necessary to prevent the establishment of parallel societies, including those governed by Islamic sharia law.

A job fair for migrants, held on February 25, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Image source: Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

A government task force created to promote the integration of migrants into German society has published a list of the core features of German culture.

The list studiously omits politically incorrect terms such as "patriotism" and "leading culture" (Leitkultur), and effectively reduces German traditions and values to the lowest common denominator. The task force, in fact, implicitly establishes multiculturalism as the most complete expression of German culture.

The so-called Cultural Integration Initiative (Initiative kulturelle Integration) was created by the German government in December 2016 to promote "social cohesion" after Chancellor Angela Merkel opened German borders to more than a million migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.