Vienna - Austrian rightist Joerg Haider on Tuesday demanded measures against creeping Islamization of the country, including bans of headscarves and the construction of mosques. "We must not tolerate any longer that radical Islamists mock the rule of law in our country and ignore our values and dominant culture," said Haider, who led the right-wing Freedom Party (FP) to become Austria's second strongest party and now is governor of the southern Austrian province Carinthia.
Haider demanded that immigrants must adapt to the "Leitkultur," a term which translates as dominant, or defining culture.
"Those who live here, have to adapt to our dominant culture and accept the rule of law. Who cannot or does not want to do this, has no place here," Austria's formerly dominating right-wing figure said in a press release.
Following the refusal of a female defendant in an Islamist terrorism trial to remove her burka as required by Austrian law, Haider suggested a headscarf-ban "following the Dutch example."
The Netherlands' general ban on cloaking was an example worth following, Haider said, as it was a way to ban wearing Muslim headscarves or burkas in accordance with the Dutch constitution, Haider said.
The former FP-leader and founder of a Alliance for Austria's Future, a rivalling rightist party, also suggested extending a ban on the construction of mosques, introduced in the southern province of Carinthia last month, to all of Austria.
