- Sputnik International, 1920
Analysis
Enjoy in-depth, acute analysis of the most pressing local, regional and global trends at Sputnik!

Scramble to Tighten Europe’s Borders Shows Politicians are Playing ‘Catch Up’ With Public Concern

© AP Photo / Kerstin Joensson German federal police officers guide a group of migrants on their way after crossing the border between Austria and Germany in Wegscheid near Passau, Germany.
 German federal police officers guide a group of migrants on their way after crossing the border between Austria and Germany in Wegscheid near Passau, Germany.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 22.09.2024
Subscribe
After Germany instituted new checks at its borders to try and clamp down on the influx of refugees, the Dutch government and Hungary followed suit with announcements that they would seek an opt-out from the European Union’s migration policies.
The scramble to tighten border policies in some EU countries is a sign that politicians are desperately “trying to play catch up” with public concern, Dr. George Szamuely, a senior research fellow at the Global Policy Institute, told Sputnik.
Europe’s migrant crisis was imposed by the elites on their own population, he stressed. It was part of a “fateful alliance among the big corporations that want cheap labor and the kind of multicultural advocates who think that that's a good thing for Europe to be more diverse,” Szamuely noted, stressing that this is “what's causing this intense political feeling because people don't really want it. This is something that the elites had desired.
After Germany instituted sweeping checks at its borders and stronger deportation laws, the new Dutch government announced it was aiming to set in place “the strictest admission rules in the EU.” Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on Friday that the government would officially ask the European Commission for an opt-out on EU asylum and migration policies.
We cannot continue to bear the large influx of migrants to our country. People are experiencing an asylum crisis,” Schoof said.
© Photo : JanosBoka_HUScreenshot of X post by Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs János Bóka.
Screenshot of X post by Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs János Bóka. - Sputnik International, 1920, 22.09.2024
Screenshot of X post by Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs János Bóka.

Echoing the same sentiments, Hungary is also going to request an opt-out from the European Union’s migration policies, Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs Janos Boka said in a post on X. As it is, Hungary has traditionally opted for a tougher migration policy than the rest of the bloc. During the 2015 European migrant crisis, Prime Minister Viktor Orban rejected the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees coming from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries torn apart by NATO warmongering.

Geert Wilders, the right-wing leader of the PVV (PfE) – the party that came out on top in the last national elections in the Netherlands - described the Dutch official request to opt out of EU migration policy as a ‘mini-Nexit’ in a nod to Brexit.
© AP Photo / Markus SchreiberNew arrived migrants rest as they wait for their results of a medical check at the central registration for asylum seekers in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.
New arrived migrants rest as they wait for their results of a medical check at the central registration for asylum seekers in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. - Sputnik International, 1920, 22.09.2024
New arrived migrants rest as they wait for their results of a medical check at the central registration for asylum seekers in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.

“Tens of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers come into Europe and then make their way into the most prosperous parts of Europe, becoming an additional huge burden on countries,” underscored George Szamuely.

Europe is witnessing “complete abuse of the asylum seeker scheme,” said the researcher, adding:
“It is a combination of these anxieties, and the rise of anti-immigrant populist parties that is leading to the stricter measures or, at least, demands for stricter measures throughout Europe,” noted Szamuely.
Regarding the opt-out of EU rules, the expert noted that such an outcome is very difficult to achieve, as it requires renegotiating the treaty and “that's not something that's easily doable, and could take a long time […] because EU rules are supposed to be binding on all member states.
File picture taken May 1, 2019 shows AfD supporters walkin along a party elections poster in Erfurt, Germany. German media outlets are reporting the country's domestic intelligence agency has put the opposition Alternative for Germany party under observation under suspicion of extreme right sympathies - Sputnik International, 1920, 04.09.2024
Analysis
'Anxiety Within Germany About Its Future': AfD & BSW Take East Germany by Storm
The issue of immigration is besetting one country after another, and results of elections in European countries are starkly reflecting this. The issue of unrestrained immigration helped Wilders and his populist right Freedom Party win a plurality of seats in the Netherlands’ House of Representatives last November. In Germany, the success of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in regional elections piled pressure on the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to tackle the migrant issue and close its borders, temporarily ending the Schengen-Visiting Zone.
German federal police officers check cars at the Austrian-German border crossing point in Kiefersfelden, Germany, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023 - Sputnik International, 1920, 13.09.2024
World
Germany's New Border Crackdown Wins Cheers & Jeers Amid EU Rifts Over Immigration
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала