BERLIN
The Christian Social Union has softened its proposal to oblige immigrants to speak German at home.
The move came Monday after the party prepared a "base bid proposal" for its congress on November 12, saying a society could only communicate if it spoke the same language.
The party said in its proposal: "... the immigrants should speak German in official places and at home."
Representatives from the Social Democrats and Greens derided the idea as "nonsense."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel responded to the move by saying "good German knowledge" was necessary for the integration of immigrants.
But she added: "... this is not a mistake if the children grow up bilingual. I think that it is advantageous."
The German chancellor’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said earlier that the Christian Social Union‘s proposal did not “belong to the plans of German government's coalition agreement."
Anti-immigrant stance
The Christian Social Union altered the wording of its proposal in a board meeting Monday following Merkel's intervention in the debate, changing it to: "Immigrants should be encouraged to speak German in official places and at home."
Before the meeting, the party's secretary general, Peter Gauweiler, said: "Each person can speak how he wants at home."
The Bavarian-based party, known for its anti-immigrant stance, will debate the proposal at its congress Friday.
According to a study by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation aimed at promoting democracy and political education, 18.2 percent of Germans expressed support for the prohibition of immigration of Muslims to Germany.
The research, conducted between June and September, gathered the views of 1,915 citizens aged between 16 and 95.
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