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Following the parliamentary election in the Netherlands and the victory of populist Geert Wilders, Europe is facing the rise of the extreme right. Our guest Margaritis Schinas, the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for migration and the promotion of the European way of life, from the ranks of the European People’s Party, analyzes our multi-crises and multi-wars. Margaritis Schinas tells us that “Europe is called to play the role of a force for good in the global multilateral system.”
Fight against anti-Semitism
Community reflexes and discrimination are increasing everywhere on the Old Continent, as a result of the effects of the war between Hamas and Israel. Thousands of anti-Semitic acts have been recorded in France, hundreds in Germany and eastern Europe.
The portfolio of our guest Margaritis Schinas includes the fight against anti-Semitism: “We, the Europeans, during the last century, we had the experience of these tragedies of history (the Shoah, Editor’s note). We know how that happens. begins and we have learned how it ends. So we are determined not to relive this dark chapter in our history (…) We are determined to defend our European model of life.”
It highlights the need to strengthen security around synagogues and Jewish schools across Europe, and to enforce EU internet regulations against terrorist, hate or disinformation content, whether anti-Semitic or Islamophobic. “The new digital governance rules allow us to force platforms to remove all terrorist content within 24 hours and to impose fines on those who do not respect the obligation to fight hatred and discrimination,” says -he.
Geert Wilders in the Netherlands
Islamophobia is also increasing in Europe, particularly in countries where identity-based nationalism is on the rise. The Netherlands is a recent example, with the surprise victory of far-right candidate Geert Wilders in the parliamentary elections. He arrived early with 37 seats out of 150 in Parliament.
Margaritis Schinas calls for reason: “We have to see the composition of the new government in the Netherlands (…) and whether it (will apply) all the rather eccentric things that were discussed during the campaign. My feeling? It will not be not the case. (…) Geert Wilders, like other populist demagogue forces in Europe, project the image of a Europe incapable of managing migration. We will prove to them that they are at fault, because in a few weeks , we will finally have a major European agreement on immigration and asylum. After years of failures, for the first time, we will have a global, holistic, cohesive framework, which will allow us to manage migration at European level through European institutions, with European resources and on the basis of values and rules anchored in European law.”
What does Brussels say to this Dutch far right, which wants to organize a referendum on Nexit, the Netherlands’ exit from the European Union? “Europe is the global epicenter of democracy and good governance. So elections do not scare us. Elections are our asset, our advantage.” Faced with the idea that his European party contributes to ‘demonizing’ the extreme right by allying with it, as in Italy, he tempers: “Since its formation, the Meloni government has behaved like a true European government which works with the European Union in all areas of importance: support for Ukraine, migration agreement etc.
Read alsoAnti-Islam, anti-EU… Geert Wilders or the noisy triumph of the far right in the Netherlands
Migration
As vice-president of the European Commission in charge of migration, Margaritis Schinas proposed a new migration pact in September 2020, which should be finalized in February 2024. “I am optimistic about this agreement, including an external component of partnership with third countries of origin and transit of migratory flows, a system of control of the external borders of the Union of uniform procedures with easy and rapid returns for all those who do not have the right to be under the legal protection of asylum of the European Union”. A system that he says is “of sharing, responsibility and solidarity between the 27”.
With 350,000 migrants entering the EU illegally in 2022, these migration agreements, like the one between the EU and Tunisia, are not as simple as they seem. “We are not only working on migration with third countries (…) It is with satisfaction that we note that the EU-Tunisia agreement has contributed to significantly reducing the number of arrivals to the central Mediterranean. approach that Europe will pursue in the years to come: working with our neighbors to find solutions for development and growth.
But, on November 6, Giorgia Meloni, the President of the Italian Council, signed a memorandum of understanding with her Albanian counterpart which provides for the installation in Albania of a reception area for migrants rescued by the navy. Italian. Illegal ? “It is an agreement which provides that this asylum management procedure remains in the hands of Italian representatives. There will not be a sub-delegation to a third country (…) I think that this agreement does not pose a problem of compatibility with Community law, nor with the future Pact on Migration and Asylum”.
See also“The migration agreement with Italy creates conspiracy theories because we are outside the EU”
Job Tinder
Every year 3.5 million non-Europeans legally enter the European Union. A legal flow considered by Margaritis Schinas as one of the solutions to combat irregular arrivals and fill gaps in the labor market. “We open a door in our house to prevent people from continuing to jump out of the window.”
The commissioner supports what he calls a simple and voluntary system for migrants with the “necessary skills for vacant positions”. “It is not Fortress Europe, it is a Europe open to workers from third countries, an organized Europe, a Europe which offers practical solutions. No speeches or demagogic approaches on migration, but organized mobility” , he demands.