Czech President: Muslims are 'impossible to integrate' into Europe

Czech President Milos Zeman, known for his anti-refugee rhetoric, said on Sunday it was "practically impossible" to integrate the Muslim community into European society.

"The experience of Western European countries which have ghettos and excluded localities shows that the integration of the Muslim community is practically impossible," Zeman said in a televised interview.

"Let them have their culture in their countries and not take it to Europe, otherwise it will end up like Cologne," he added, referring to the mass New Year's Eve assaults on women in Germany.

"Integration is possible with cultures that are similar, and the similarities may vary," pointing out that the Vietnamese and Ukrainian communities had been able to integrate into Czech society.

Zeman, a 71-year-old left-winger and the first-ever directly elected president of the Czech Republic, has repeatedly spoken out against the surge of refugee arrivals in Europe.

Earlier this month, Zeman claimed the influx was masterminded by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, saying the Islamist political party was using money from several states to finance it in a bid to "gradually control Europe".

Late last year, Zeman called the surge in refugee numbers "an organised invasion", urging young men from Iraq and Syria to "take up arms" against the Islamic State group (IS) instead of running away.

More than one million migrants reached Europe in 2015, most of them refugees fleeing war and violence in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, according to the UN refugee agency

But few asylum seekers have chosen to stay in the largely secular Czech Republic, an EU and NATO member of 10.5 million people, with the majority heading to wealthier Germany and other western EU states.

The Czech government has pledged to accept refugees under an EU quota scheme to place 160,000 asylum seekers throughout the bloc, despite Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka saying it is doomed to failure given refugees' determination to head to Germany and other favoured countries.

The UN's refugee agency head Filipo Grandi warned on Saturday against a rise in anti-refugee attitude following the suicide attack in Istanbul during a visit to Turkey.

Increasing fear of refugees could become "dangerous" said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filipo Grandi following a recent suicide attack in Istanbul that killed 10 tourists last week, which was reportedly carried out by a former IS militant before registering as a refugee in Turkey.

Agencies contributed to this report.