BBC: Global debate on Cameron's multiculturalism speech

[pampango]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12415597

When David Cameron said he wanted to see the end of "state multiculturalism" the media firestorm it provoked in the UK soon blew itself out - but it is a different story in other parts of the world.

The latest figure to wade into the row is Marine Le Pen, the new leader of France's far right Front National, who has congratulated Mr Cameron for what she claimed was his endorsement of her party's position. The Conservative Party said Ms Le Pen had failed to understand Mr Cameron's speech, in which he called for less tolerance of extremism and an end to the doctrine of multiculturalism which encourages different communities to live separate lives.

But a trawl through the international media, thanks to the experts at BBC Monitoring, reveals some very different interpretations of what Mr Cameron had to say - some of which could have consequences for British foreign policy. Some commentators have accused him of lending legitimacy to the far right.

"The vagueness of the formula, barely concealed by his gaudy propaganda, could be a sign that Cameron's speech sought above all to occupy the political space to which the British far right aspires," said an unsigned editorial in the Spanish centre-left newspaper El Pais, on 8 February.

The article carries reactions to Cameron's speech from Australia, Canada, Iran, Russia, Spain and Slovakia.