While Europe ponders its problems with large and isolated Muslim communities in their midst, suffering from unemployment and refusing to assimilate, its citizens have begun looking towards the ummah for solutions to their own economic woes. Der Spiegel reports on the newest ethnic restaurant in Irbil:

Now, finally, just in time for the World Cup, Iraqis have the opportunity to savour German cuisine and culture following last week's opening of the country's first German restaurant, in the northern city of Arbil.

The "Deutscher Hof Arbil" was set up by Gunter Völker, a former German soldier who already runs a German restaurant in the Afghan capital of Kabul. The restaurant will stage parties to mark highlights in the German calendar such as the Oktoberfest beer festival and carnival. Its musical offerings will range from Oompah band classics to local Kurdish tunes.

For Völker, the prospect of unemployment at home in Germany is worse than any safety concerns in war-torn Iraq. "I'm not fit for Germany any more," he told Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. "There are more people on the dole than job vacancies there."

The former cook for peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia has found better opportunities working among the Kurds of Irbil than in Germany. Der Spiegel reports his "dubious" claims that he finds both travel and residency in Iraq easier and more secure than the inner city of Berlin. Given that Volker has located his other venture in the former hot spot of Taliban rule, I would presume that Volker knows a bit more about it than Der Spiegel's skeptical reporter.

Perhaps Europe should wonder at their approach to economics when their most enterprising citizens find it ncessary to travel to war zones to open new businesses and experience economic success.

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