8/31/15 8/31/15

2015 at Dawn.com)

Throughout the summer, the headlines have reflected the heart-wrenching reality of Europe’s worsening refugee crisis.The messy, incompetent and often cruel response to the influx of embattled men, women and children arriving on its territory is a huge blot on Europe’s reputation. It is also a source of disappointment for many who believed in the creation of an open, more tolerant society and thought Europeans had learned the lessons of a shameful, tragic past.Alas, many have not. The hostile reaction of governments in Britain, Hungary, Slovakia and others to the refugees arriving in Europe from war-devastated countries illustrates a callousness, intolerance and indifference that many hoped would never be seen again in Europe.News from the different “fronts” in the crisis — the Mediterranean sea, the scene of many shipwrecks and deaths, the Balkans where desperate refugees are using land routes to reach Europe and Calais where thousands are stuck in a no-man’s land between France and Britain — continues to dominate the media, elbowing out news of Eurozone troubles, including early elections announced by Greece.The focus is on the harsh statements and even harsher actions by European nations. British Prime Minister David Cameron infamously referred to “swarms” of immigrants while his foreign secretary Philip Hammond warned of “marauding migrants” on Europe’s doorsteps. Meanwhile, the huge camp of refugees seeking entry into Britain set up in Calais in France is kept in check by a swelling police presence and more fences.Many governments, especially in the former Communist central and eastern European states are gearing up for military action to keep out the desperate people on their doorsteps. More and higher fences are being erected. Some countries such as Slovakia and others in Eastern Europe have said openly that they will only take in a limited number of refugees — and only those they can identify as Christian. Not surprisingly, the refugee crisis dominated a summit on the western Balkans attended by EU leaders last week.United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged countries “in Europe and elsewhere to prove their compassion and do much more to bring an end to the crisis”. The thousands of migrants and refugees who brave perilous journeys “should not, when they arrive, encounter new challenges”, Ban said during a visit to Paris.Yes, the crisis has brought out the worst in Europe. But — at least in some cases — it has also brought out the best.Take the governments in Italy and Greece which have been struggling to cope for months with the arrival of an ever-rising number of refugees, their appeals for a more equitable sharing-out of the “burden” rejected by other members of the European Union. Italians coastguards continue to save hundreds of endangered refugees on the high seas. While far-right groups in both countries are up in arms against the refugees, ordinary Italians and Greeks — suffering from their own Euro-imposed troubles — are providing food and shelter to the new arrivals.Even as Britain’s Cameron panders to the xenophobic sentiments of the anti-foreigner UK Independence Party, many British citizens are helping out in the Calais camp. And a letter from the Jewish Council for Racial Equality to Cameron says British Jews are appalled by Britain’s response to the situation in Calais. “Our experience as refugees is not so distant that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to be demonised for seeking safety,” the letter said, adding: “People fleeing conflict and persecution are not to blame for the crisis in Calais; neither is our welfare system, nor the French government. Above all, we in the UK are not the victims here; we are not being invaded by a ‘swarm’.”Most importantly, perhaps, Germany has emerged as the country most willing to welcome the new arrivals. As the country gears up to receive an unprecedented 800,000 refugees, many of them from Syria, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has lashed out against “vile” anti-migrant violence and warned: “There will be no tolerance of those who question the dignity of other people.”Public opinion appears to be largely behind her, with 60 per cent of Germans polled by public broadcaster ZDF saying that Europe’s biggest economy is capable of hosting the asylum-seekers.Desperately seeking a joint EU response to the crisis, Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have said the refugees need to be distributed more equally among the 28 European Union countries, a demand backed by the European Commission. But there is strong opposition to such collective action from Britain and the eastern European states.Germany has in fact taken more than 40% of the Syrian refugees who have reached Europe; Sweden has taken another 20% and Greece, Italy and Spain account for another 25%.As the weeks drag on — and far right parties become ever more vocal in their anti-foreign rhetoric — the need for a joint EU response to the crisis will become more urgent. Merkel and a few others may worry about the erosion of European values — but others are busy building the walls and fences required to secure Fortress Europe.

5/11/15 5/11/15

View from abroad: When it comes to Hungary, Europe should practise what it preaches (Originally published 09/05/2015 at dawn.com)

Believe it or not, there is more to the European Union than the recent elections in Britain and London’s erratic and volatile relationship with Brussels.The EU is also not just about the dire financial and economic straits in which Greece finds itself — and unrelenting speculation about whether or not Athens is ready to exit the troubled Eurozone.In addition to fears of a Brexit and Grexit, Berlin is mired in a new spying scandal which threatens to engulf German Chancellor Angela Merkel.And, of course, the EU is under attack over its less-than-impressive response to the humanitarian tragedy unfolding on its southern shores as hundreds of refugees and economic migrants drown even as they seek to enter “Fortress Europe”.The EU’s southern and eastern neighbourhoods are in turmoil. Relations with Russia remain tense and EU governments have no influence over events in the Middle East.These and other troubles facing the 28-nation bloc capture the media spotlight and lead to endless hand-wringing over the EU’s future.All of these troubles deserve attention. But, interestingly, neither the media nor EU policymakers appear to be paying serious attention to a country — Hungary — whose leaders appears intent on defying many of the key values — human rights, democracy and tolerance — that the EU holds so dear.It is an important paradox. The EU wields enormous power over countries which are seeking membership of the 28-nation club. But once a so-called “candidate country” joins the Union, Brussels loses much of its influence over the future direction of a “member state”.This is exactly what has happened with Hungary and some other “new” EU countries which joined the Union earlier this decade.Before it entered the EU club, Hungary had to meet very strict criteria on issues like democracy and adherence to the principles of a market economy. Human rights standards had to be adhered to. Every move made by the government was scrutinised and judged.No longer. Hungary is now accused of a host of sins — and while Brussels often chides and scolds, it has little — actually it has NO — power to change the course of events in the country.There is no doubt: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is the bad boy of Europe. He cultivates close links with President Vladimir Putin at a time when the rest of the EU is seeking to distance itself from the mercurial Russian leader.Putin’s visit to Hungary earlier this year was widely seen as a defiance of the EU’s decision to keep cool diplomatic relations with Russia.More controversially, Orban has sent shock waves across the EU by insisting that the bloc should protect its borders against immigration by using military force because it doesn’t need new migrants.While other EU leaders in Brussels struggled to come up with a coherent plan to stem the tide of immigrants seeking shelter in Europe, Orban urged tougher measures.“Europe’s borders must be protected. We cannot be like a piece of cheese with holes in it so that they [immigrants] can be crossing in and out. Serious police and military steps must be taken and also steps that they remain at home,” he said.Going even further, Orban said the Hungarian government wanted to be able to detain all those who cross borders illegally, something that is only allowed in exceptional cases under EU law. It also wanted to have migrants work to cover the costs of their accommodation or detention in Hungary.In a questionnaire to be sent out to eight million citizens over 18 years of age, Hungarians will be asked to answer 12 questions on whether “the mismanagement of the immigration question by Brussels may have something to do with increased terrorism”.“The questions are leading and manipulative,” according to Dutch MEP Sophie In’ t Veld who said the whole questionnaire was “horrible”. Her colleague Cecilia Wikstrom, a Swedish liberal MEP, said it showed how Orban is distancing Hungary from Europe and “transforming Hungary into a mini-Russia”.There are suggestions that Orban, whose Fidesz party has seen a plunge in polls recently, is seeking to embrace issues championed by the far-right Jobbik party, the largest opposition force in Hungary.Hungary’s EU partners are equally vexed at the prime minister’s statements in favour of re-introducing the death penalty.Orban “should immediately make clear that this is not his intention. Would it be his intention, it would be a fight,” EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has warned.Budapest has since then retracted Orban’s statements, saying it has no plans to restore the death penalty.Worryingly for Brussels, Orban has also staged an autocratic crackdown on the nation’s press, which the independent watchdog Freedom House now ranks as only “partly free”.While the EU has so far managed to keep Hungary in check, the country is a worrying example of how things can go very wrong in the heart of Europe and the European Union.EU officials and members of the European Parliament rant and rave about Hungary and Orban but the stark truth is that while the EU wields a huge stick before a country joins the club — demanding changes in government rules and regulations and overall conduct — its influence dims once a country becomes a member.So, while the talk in Brussels is understandably about Britain, Greece and Germany, it is time that EU leaders exerted some real pressure to bring Hungary in line with Europe’s standards of conduct.It’s about consistency, coherence in the EU and above all making sure that Europe practices what it preaches to the rest of the world.