The Eu's Apparent 180 On Mass Migration

The EU's Apparent 180 On Mass Migration

3/7/2020

I frankly don't know what to make of the EU's apparent change of will regarding its external borders, but it seems to want no part of Turkey's attempt to flood the continent with migrants. The sudden shift in the EU's rhetoric concerning mass migration and external borders is so extreme it verges on schizophrenic.

I'm sure the coming weeks and months will reveal much. In the meantime, I would welcome any thoughts on the issue.

4 Comments

bruce charlton

3/8/2020 10:29:51

This is too new and not yest sustained for me to comment upon - but it may be a part of the Phase Two strategy I descibe on my blog today; or it may be that the Global Establishment have lost control specifcially in Greece - perhaps because the problem is too obvious, and because Greece (Asia Minor) is still much more Christian, more deeply perhaps, than most of the West. It's not long ago that the Orthodox had been living as second class semi-serfs since the fall of Constaninople, under the Ottomans.

Francis Berger

3/8/2020 16:20:56

Thanks for the comment, Bruce. I agree that this is too new. I'm in a complete fog about it all. That helps explain why I only wrote a paragraph about it. I just wanted to get a sense what others may think.

I would have presumed Turkey's unleashing of another migrant wave would have played to the EU's establishment favor, but they seemed adamantly against this at the moment. Of course, appearances can be deceiving. Maybe the EU just wants to wrestle the issue away from the nationalist types. The coronavirus also works against those who support mass migration at the moment. It's hard to be pro-mass migration when most of northern Italy has been locked down.

And Greece and Turkey have centuries of animosity between them.

In any event, this is just a sideshow at the moment. The big story is the no-crisis crisis, which looks like it might just trigger . . . well, who knows?

I liked your post today.

John Fitzgerald link

3/9/2020 18:42:14

I'll let you into a secret - before early 2016 I was a tentative 'remainer' in that, despite a multitude of reservations about the EU, I was keen for Britain to remain involved and help transform the institution from within. 'Better in than out' was my reasoning. But all that went out the window when the EU concocted its migrant deal with President Erdogan. It was clear to me from the start that he'd use the agreement to store up migrants and weaponise then against Europe at a time of his choosing. It was an awful deal. Shockking. No strategy, no philosophy, no principle - exactly the kind of thing the later Roman Empire did - paying off one tribe of barbarians to keep another tribe out. From that moment on my eyes were opened and my mind made up. Leave!

As for the current volte face, to be honest I don't think there's anything too deep behind it. Another wave of migrants comparable to 2015 would seal the fate of many of the EU's current leaders and usher in a wave of populist/nationalist governments. Maybe there's something else behind it but at the moment I can't see anything further and deeper than the desire to save skins and stay in power.

Francis Berger

3/9/2020 22:06:22

That's a great comment, John. I can appreciate what you said about wanting to change the system from within. This is exactly what the Prime Minister of Hungary is striving to do. In fact, he feels somewhat vindicated by the EU's new anti-migrant show and refusal to bow to Turkey's demands, but I suspect the EU's tough stance won't last. I also believe Orbán will fail in his quest to change the EU from within. In the end, Hungary will either be kicked out of the EU or it will have to leave much the way the UK did.

I like your allusion to late Rome. That is exactly how the EU is behaves in terms of its decisions and overall approach. I agree with your assessment of the EU's current stance. I also think the EU is trying to tug the migration issue away from the nationalists (and by doing so, eventually neutralize the issue so that it can no longer be wielded as an objection against their dream of a superstate).

But these are just guesses on my part. Time will reveal everything.

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The EU's Apparent 180 On Mass Migration

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