Why the Migrant Issue Divides Europe

By Ian Bremmer
Posted 20 Feb 2017

There are now two Europes. The first is home to those committed to common
political values, shared burdens and an ever closer European Union. The
second is for those who see national and European values in almost constant
conflict, who say each nation should solve its own problems, whatever the cost
to the dream of "Europe whole and free." This divide, intensified by a rising
wave of Middle Eastern migrants, poses the most dangerous challenge the
union has ever faced.

The question now before every E.U. citizen: In the name of unity and human
rights, should European leaders make deals that require each country to
welcome a certain number of refugees? Or should each state reserve the right
to decide for itself how many migrants to accept?

Europe faced intense pressures even before the tidal wave of migrants began to
crest, from challenges like the financial crisis and Ukraine. But it is the arrival
of so many refugees--and the ISIS-age anxieties they provoke--that has done
most to boost populists in every corner of Europe. In the west, parties like
France's National Front, Britain's U.K. Independence Party and Germany's
Alternative for Deutschland all have new political life. Farther east,
Euroskeptic, right-wing populists have gained real power. When Viktor Orban
became Hungary's Prime Minister for the second time in May 2010, his
xenophobic, authoritarian politics left him isolated in Europe. Now, thanks in
part to Orban's willingness to build a wall to keep as many migrants as
possible out of Hungary, he has inspired admirers in Central and Eastern
Europe. Countries like the Czech Republic and even Poland have agreed to
send police and military officers to Hungary's border with Serbia to reinforce
controls.

Orban has also forged ties with Germany's Christian Social Union--the main
party in Bavaria and a permanent alliance partner with Chancellor Angela
Merkel's Christian Democrats. During a September visit to Bavaria, Orban
accused Merkel's government of "moral imperialism" and argued that by
encouraging migrants to come to Europe, she is indirectly responsible for the
fate of those who have died along the way. Thanks largely to this crisis,
Merkel's approval ratings are at their lowest levels in four years--and Orban
has many new friends. The migrant question is a more serious threat to
Europe's future than anything in recent memory, because it can't be resolved
by a promise from a central bank or an infusion of someone else's cash. This is
a question of Europe's identity--and whether it means as much to European
voters as it did a generation ago. All the while, the refugees will keep coming,
and it will become harder for governments to make sacrifices to welcome them.
Bremmer, Ian (2017). Why the Migrant Issue Divides Europe. Retrieved 21 March 2017 from
http://time.com/4109851/the-migrant-issue-is-dividing-europe/?iid=sr-link5
Abelleria, Kenny Jessa Vem C. March 24, 2017

Hist.142 - Contemporary Europe TF/ 1:30-3:00

ARTICLE REVIEW

The article shows how Europe was divided into two which the first one is
for those committed and dedicated to the European Union while the second
divide is the selfish one who does not care others problem rather focuses on its
own. However brought great impact to international conflict and even
intensified by the Middle Eastern migrants, whom they believed a threat to
national security. The increasing rate of migrants and refugees possess
financial crisis to some European countries. This article is significant because
it shows the real situation of Europe, however, due to historical revisionism in
which people tend not to trace back the historical reasons on how Muslims fled
to Europe yet it negatively discredited in showing the factual history of events.
The author shows the emergence of xenophobic leaders and alliances in
which aim is to prohibit the coming of more migrants. However, the migrant
issue were used for some individual in order to gain support and approval
ratings from the people for of being a “Good Samaritan” to the eyes of many
which is a kind of political stint or tactic. Moreover, these findings are certainly
of interest, the author’s overbearing discussion unbiasedly shows that the
immigrant crisis has something to do with its historical backgrounds and also
the European itself. These issues could be trace back historically beginning
from the Muslim displacement in Early Palestine to the founding of the
modern-state of Israel up to the emergence of Islamic militants which latter
could be then considered as a subject of the Post-Cold War Era.

Furthermore the points made by the author are valid and it does heated
debates about the massive Muslim migration issue. It would be a better way to
address the historical background of the issue and raise points to critic
European leaders to consider them as one of the main cause of world issues
that are happening not just in the contemporary era but even long before.