Angela Merkel has called for a ban on the burka "wherever possible" in Germany during an address to her conservative Christian Democratic Union party.
In her bid for another two-year term as Chancellor, Merkel declared she was in favour of a nationwide restriction on the full-face veil, The Independent reports.
"The full-face veil is not acceptable in our country," she told her party during the congress in Essen. "It should be banned, wherever it is legally possible."
Her statement echoes an announcement on the burka ban policy made by Thomas de Maiziere, Germany's interior minister, in August.
"We all reject the full veil — not only the burka but also other types of full veil that only leave the eyes visible. They have no place in our society," Maiziere said at the time.
"Showing your face is essential for our communication, co-existence and social cohesion and that's why we're asking everyone to show their faces," he added. "We want to introduce a law to make people show their faces and that means that those who break that law will have to face the consequences."
Merkel isn't the only leader calling for the new law. Her controversial pitch comes after MPs in the Netherlands voted to ban the burka on public transport and in government buildings, schools and hospitals in November.
Support for the ruling has continued to grow in other countries, following France's ban on face covering back in 2011. This was the first country in Europe to implement a ban, making it illegal for Muslim women to have their faces covered in public places.
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