Angela Merkel: Full-face veil must be banned in Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a public ban on the full-face veil as her political party gears up to back her for a fourth term in office.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a public ban on the full-face veil as her political party gears up to back her for a fourth term in office.

The suggested policy won Merkel overwhelming applause on Tuesday from about 1,000 delegates ahead of her conservative Christian Democrats’ (CDU) party conference vote, which is expected to return her for the ninth time as its chief.

She said the Muslim full-face veil was not compatible with German culture. “Here we say ‘show your face’. So full veiling is not appropriate here. It should be prohibited wherever legally possible,” Merkel told the crowd to cheers.

Merkel’s government has attempted to address public fears surrounding last year’s record influx of nearly 1.1 million refugees and migrants, mostly from predominantly Muslim countries.