Angela Merkel's proposal for a partial ban on full-face veils in Germany has been met with overwhelming public support.
Speaking at the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) party conference in Essen this week, the German Chancellor told delegates "the full-face veil is not acceptable in our country" and she would support a ban "wherever legally possible".
The proposals, first outlined by interior minister Thomas de Maiziere in August, would ban niqabs and burkas in places deemed "necessary for our society's coexistence", such as in government offices, schools, universities and courtrooms.
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Merkel's comments were met with applause and cheering from delegates and appear to have public approval as well.
A recent survey found 81 per cent of Germans believe burkas and niqabs should not be worn in some public places, while 51 per cent want a total ban on religious face coverings, Deutsche Welle reports.
"Support for bans on full-face veils has been growing across Europe since France became the first country to implement such a law in 2011," The Independent says. Dutch MPs approved a similar measure last month.
However, several commentators have questioned the need for a ban in Germany as only a small fraction of women wear the full-face veil.
Gabriele Boos-Niazy, the chairwoman of the German Alliance of Muslim Women, says she believes the number to be fewer than 100 and that many of those tourists.
The alliance previously referred to nursery nurses not being allowed to wear headscarves at work as "a disproportionate interference with the freedom of religion".
The proposed burka ban is part of a CDU platform promising a harder line on integration and a tougher policy on asylum seekers, including stepping up deportations of applicants who do not meet the criteria.
However, general secretary Peter Tauber insisted the CDU was pursuing a "policy of the outstretched hand, not a fist", Der Spiegel reports.
The Chancellor also said last year's scenes of hundreds of thousands of migrants pouring into Germany "would not happen again".
The CDU will be hoping her tough talk can boost her approval ratings before next year's general election. A fourth term would put Merkel in line to equal the record-breaking tenure of Germany's longest-serving Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who held onto the office from 1982 to 1998.
