I don't want to change Islam, but if there is to be a European Islam, it must incorporate European values.

If we want to make Europe stronger, then each country first has to ensure that it becomes stronger itself. This applies to Italy and France, and it applies to Germany as well. Subsequently, we in Europe need to discuss how we can improve the community. That is the correct order.

I'm a firm believer in the monetary union.

I want to see religious instruction and sermons held in German in the mosques. The ideal, in my view, would be for imams to be trained in Germany and to speak our language, just as the Roman Catholic Church now holds mass in German and gave up Latin long ago.

The German export successes are not the result of some sort of currency manipulation, but of the increased competitiveness of companies. The American growth model, on the other hand, is in a deep crisis.

When it comes to training imams, one needs a partner. But if we want the mosques to preach peaceful coexistence, we will have to do something about it. One goal of the conference is to find a partner for the training of imams and teachers of Islam in schools.

In the EU, we agree that the pressures causing migration must be reduced.