Islam and secularism can co-exist- Hollande

French President Francois Hollande said Islam and secularism can co-exist in a speech made on Thursday, after the country became embroiled in a row over attempts to ban burkini-clad women from beaches.

Nice, where 86 people died in an Islamic State militant attack in July, was one of some 30 towns in the southeast of the country to ban the burkini on the grounds that it presented a threat to public order.

While traditionally Catholic but also home to large Jewish and Muslim communities, France has made the strict separation of church and state a cornerstone of political life for well over a century.

Hollande said Islam, as France’s second religion, can adapt to the country’s secularism as previous religions have done.

“Nothing in the doctrine of secularism goes against the practice of Islam in France provided, and this is the crucial point, it respects the law,” he told delegates at the left-wing Jean Jaures Foundation think-tank in Paris.

Without directly mentioning calls for a nationwide ban on the burkini, Hollande said: “As long as I am president of the Republic, there will be no circumstantial legislation that is as unenforceable as it is unconstitutional.”

While the burkini controversy may wane with the end of the summer vacation period, the furore highlighted the tensions set to dominate ahead of elections next May.