European Commission President Barroso - Veils
Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, has called veils worn by Muslim women obstacles to communication.
Barroso made the comments in an interview published in Italy's
Corriere della Sera newspaper on Thursday. Commenting on a controversy that has broken out most recently in
Europe in Britain, Barroso was quoted as saying that he opposed laws that said
what could and could not be worn. "And in general, if a person wants to communicate she can't
present herself with a veil that covers her entire face, except for a small
opening for the eyes. It's clear that that's an obstacle." The controversy By making such comments, Barroso threw himself into the
highly charged debate that has broken out in some European countries.
"If a person wants to
communicate she can't present herself with a veil that covers her entire
face, except for a small opening for the eyes. It's clear that that's an
obstacle" Turkey's EU bid Barroso also reiterated worries about predominantly Muslim
Turkey's progress towards EU membership, saying necessary reforms were
proceeding very slowly. "I'm sorry to say it, but things are going badly," he
said. ____________________________________________________________________________
"But there are
matters of common sense," he said.
"I give you an
example: a teacher who presents herself to students with a completely veiled
face is not doing something reasonable in our society.
The controversy
about veils in Europe was rekindled when Jack Straw, Britain's former
foreign minister, said Muslim women who wore full veils made community
relations difficult, calling veils a "visible statement of separation and
difference".
Jose Manuel Barroso, the European
Commission president
Tony Blair, the British prime
minister, called veils a "mark of separation", while Romano Prodi, the
Italian prime minister said it was a matter of common sense that people
show their faces in public.
The question of whether
Europe is doing enough to integrate Muslims has been addressed by the government
since the attacks in July last year when British-born Muslim
suicide bombers killed 52 people.
"We're at a critical moment. The reforms in
Turkey are proceeding very slowly and today I don't see the progress I would
have hoped for.
"Let's hope that the Finnish presidency [of the EU]
will manage to avoid a traumatic stop to negotiations. But, honestly, I am
worried."
Barroso was referring to proposals from the
Finnish EU presidency to resolve a dispute between Turkey and Cyprus threatening
to derail Turkey's attempts to gain EU membership.