The significant collapse of oil prices shows that it was previously way too high.

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.

It's understandable that Europe's Muslims are in a difficult situation, which is partly their own doing and partly not.

I don't know how many resolutions from the IMF or G-20 we have already written saying that such [financial] reforms are necessary for new growth.

I'm a firm believer in the monetary union.

We were always faced with questions like: What about a religious community like Milli Görüs, which is represented by the Islamic Council? And what about the Central Council of Muslims? But we don't wish to exclude people from the start.

As for the role of France and Germany: French politics is often more self-confident then German politics due to the catastrophe in the first half of the last century. If Berlin and Paris don't agree, then it is difficult to make progress in Europe.