Vienna: A top Austrian official has called for closure of Islamic kindergartens here, saying they are “not needed”.

In an interview a local daily, Minister for Integration Sebastian Kurz on Thursday said these kindergartens encourage parallel societies and non-integration, reports Xinhua news agency.

In 2015, Kurz made similar statements, arguing that the German language was not adequately being taught at these institutions, and that there was suspicion that politicised Islam was being instilled onto the students.