In a speech he himself called 'an important moment', French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday that women wearing the burqa would not be accepted on French territory.

"The problem of the burqa is not a religious problem, it is a problem of the dignity of women. It is a symbol of subservience, of submission. The burqa will not be welcome in our French republic," Sarkozy said during his address before a joint session of the two houses of Parliament in Versailles.