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(CNN)French President Francois Hollande called for the creation of "an Islam of France" and the removal of foreign-trained extremist imams in a key speech Thursday on the challenges radical Islam poses to democracy.
Addressing the debate surrounding Islam following a summer of terror attacks and burkini bans, he stressed that French secularism was not at odds with the religion.
"Nothing in the idea of secularism is opposed to the practice of Islam in France, as long -- and that is the vital point -- as it complies with the law," Hollande said in Paris, stressing that secularism was "not a religion of the state that stands against all other religions."
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"What we need to succeed in together is the creation of an Islam of France," Hollande said.
"The first decision consists of reintroducing a foundation for Islam, which relies on cultural, educational and social initiatives.
"The second will be to create a national association in order to obtain financing for the building of mosques and the training of imams. The republic cannot accept a situation where a majority of imams are trained abroad and sometimes don't speak our language."
He said that radical Islam had created "a fake state, led by real killers. It skews the Islamic religion to spread its hatred."
France is under a state of emergency introduced after the ISIS terror attacks in Paris in November and extended following the Bastille Day terror attack in Nice.
Hollande: Islam compatible with republican values
French officials have spoken before of plans to clamp down on foreign-funded and -trained mosques amid fears around Islamic extremism following a string of ISIS-inspired attacks and with hundreds of French jihadists joining the terror group's ranks in the Middle East.
Source: French church attacker was under house arrest
Source: French church attacker was under house arrest 02:02
The atrocities include the killing of an elderly Catholic priest in his church near Rouen in July and the killing of a police commander and his partner in Magnanville a month earlier.
Hollande said the core republican principle of the separation of church and state was conceived at a time when Muslims made up only a tiny proportion of the French population.
"The question is to know if the principles laid down more than a century ago remain relevant when Islam is the second religion of France," he said.
"The answer is yes, clearly yes. The vast majority of our Muslim compatriots demonstrate it every day."
Between 7% and 9% of France's population is Muslim, according to the CIA World Factbook.
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