Merkel: Migrants and Germans can learn from each other

BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel says newcomers to Germany must learn the country’s values and customs, but that Germans can also learn from them.

More than 1 million asylum seekers have arrived in the past two years, and Germany’s been working hard on integration.

Speaking in her weekly podcast this Saturday, in a question-and-answer form with a Syrian journalist who arrived as a refugee in 2015, Merkel emphasized migrants need to respect Germany’s values of “tolerance, openness, freedom of religion and freedom of expression” and also “be a little curious about our way of life.”

On the flipside, Merkel says Germans should be open, and “seize upon it as a possibility to learn and experience more.”

Merkel meets with three organizations next week to thank them for their help with migrants.