10 December 2015

Kurz defends probe into Islamic nurseries

Austria’s Integration Minister Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) has been defending a controversial study into Islamic kindergartens, which has prompted him to call for the immediate closure of "many Islamic kindergartens" and insist on tighter controls to prevent radicalization.

He told ORF television that he believed the study was necessary because there is a danger that “parallel societies are emerging". He said it had been difficult to carry out the survey and that the city of Vienna had not been very cooperative.

He said that he had discovered that one nursery had invited a Salafist to visit as a guest of honour, that some of the kindergartens were teaching aspects of Sharia law, and that there were serious inadequacies in the way some kindergartens taught German.

Vienna councillor Sonja Wehsely has asked Kurz to hand over a list of the kindergartens that have been identified as problematic, so that they can be dealt with as soon as possible. [The Local] Read more