A society which is divided into fragments cannot be a truly democratic society. Democracy means, among other things, that minorities accept majority decisions, indeed that they wholeheartedly endorse them. This is only possible if, beyond all the conflicts and controversies of day-to-day politics, majority and minority share common basic values. Then they can develop a "we feeling" which binds them together.
We need that, even if, for many reasons, we cannot fall back on the emotion with which other nations portray their harmonious pluralism.
Pride in our constitution is important. However, we also need a certain sense of togetherness. A democratic society cannot endure the division between "us here" and "them there" indefinitely.
When we talk about the danger of our society falling apart we should not only point our fingers at others.
We must ask ourselves if, during all the years, we have always been sufficiently aware of our own identity and whether we have been sufficiently self-confident to win over newcomers on a deeper level.
Do we not have good reason, given our country's successful record of peace and democracy during the last fifty years, to sing the praises of our society, its culture and ways of life, perhaps also its symbols?
Should we not make it much clearer that it is not only prosperity and economic efficiency which make our country attractive?
If we succeed in doing this, we can expect immigrants to become citizens who do not merely live in Germany but actually feel at home here.
Integration does not mean uprooting or faceless assimilation.
Integration is also an alternative to incompatible cultures living side by side without any interaction.
Integration is the commitment, which must be renewed over and again, of us all to common values. Those who want to live permanently in Germany need not disown their origins. However, they must be prepared to help shape an open society based on the principles contained in the Basic Law. That is our offer to everyone. We can only remain an open society if no isolated groups develop which do not subscribe to our society's basic consensus.
That is why we must promote integration actively and systematically. Everyone who has the right to stay in Germany permanently should be obliged to familiarize themselves with our society: with our values, our traditions and, in particular, with our language.
We should seriously consider following the example of other countries and agree on a law aimed at actively fostering integration.
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