Race row banker resigns
A CENTRAL bank board member who outraged Germany with his remarks on Muslim immigrants and Jews dramatically resigned yesterday after facing pressure from political leaders including chancellor Angela Merkel.
Thilo Sarrazin, aged 65, accused Turks and Arabs of exploiting the welfare state, refusing to integrate and lowering the average intelligence. The Bundesbank said yesterday he would leave his post at the end of the month.
“I found it too risky in the current atmosphere…to stand up to the entire political and media establishment. That would be presumptuous and would not have worked,” Sarrazin said, after weeks of inflaming public opinion by refusing to resign.
The central bank voted unanimously for his removal last week after he would not go quietly, but he could not be ousted unless the head of state formally backed the decision.