It's three weeks before the elections to the European Parliament. Experts say that the candidates who'll suggest the most promising solutions to the main problems of Europe will win. Those are illegal migration and unemployment.
Dmitry Moroka has the details of what different political forces think about them.
Bicske, Hungary, September 3rd, 2015, refugee camp.
SPECIAL PROJECT. CHOICE OF EUROPE
What are European residents dissatisfied with? This survey is traditionally conducted before every election to the European Parliament. In 2014, the most popular answer was unemployment. Now, it's illegal migration. It's become a real catastrophe for the EU countries in the past five years. It undermined the economy, public order, and authority of traditional political parties. It's a small wonder that before the elections to the European Parliament, there are demands to solve the problem of migration again both from society and political parties.
Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary: "We've proved the inadequacy of the immigration policy which the European Commission conducted and demonstrated that it leads to an impasse. As a result of this policy, the security situation in Europe deteriorated. The threat of terrorism is more severe than ever. Social issues are critical in Western Europe, which poses a threat to security and indicates difficulties with cultural assimilation in the country".
Since 2014, over two million migrants from the Middle East and Africa came to Europe illegally. This data is from Frontex, a border control agency. As we can see, the peak was in 2015. The flow is receding now and has almost reached the pre-crisis level. However, over 22 million people are already living in Europe without a passport.
What should they do with them? Why should some countries admit more migrants and others fewer? Where is the justice? And why should they support migrants with taxpayers' money? These questions literally split the EU.
Against this background, right-wing radical parties gained popularity. They strongly oppose migration. They're especially popular in Hungary, Poland, and Italy.
Fabrizio Sala, vice president of the Lombardy region of Italy: "Italy was placed in a difficult position. Therefore, we said that either Italy will share all of the difficulties connected with admitting and supporting migrants with other EU countries or it'll close its ports. The problem is that there are over half a million migrants in Italy now, who'll have to go back to their homeland. This operation will be carried out within the next few years. We should understand that Italy is in a difficult situation. It could happen to any other EU country".
At the same time, in many countries, the inflow of migrants goes hand in hand with the outflow of their own labor force. Polls indicate that residents of Southern and Eastern Europe are mostly concerned about this trend.
Unemployment is another widely argued issue before the elections to the European Parliament. The issue of youth unemployment is especially severe. Even those who say that the creation of the euro is an absolute achievement can't explain why out of over 3 million unemployed young people in Europe, there are over 2 million in the euro area. The inequality of the unemployment figures in the countries is striking. It's 6.5% in Europe. At the same time, it's lowest in Czechia — under 2%. It's highest in Greece — 18%.
Robert Skidelsky, MP from Great Britain: "There are big problems. There is a high youth unemployment rate, a high overall unemployment rate. In addition, they make the country implement programs that weaken the national economy. Combined with the free movement of people, it results in an outflow of the population. It makes the issue of migration more serious. On the wave of migration, populist parties gain popularity. They state that they don't need an inflow of foreigners. And there's a contradiction between economic issues and efforts to retain people in the countries where those programs are being implemented. Nobody has overcome this contradiction yet. It still causes strong disagreement in the EU".
In Great Britain, the unemployment rate is at a record low this year — 4%. The last time it was this low was in 1975. It would seem to be good news for the EU if not Brexit. The withdrawal of the UK could result in job losses for other countries. It'll be 42,000 for Belgium and 100,000 for Germany. Brexit will also create chaos in the British labor market.
Olga Trofimova, researcher: "According to the British statistical services, there are 3 million EU citizens in Great Britain. According to other sources, there are up to 3.5 million citizens. Of course, after Great Britain withdraws, they'll treat them as migrants from third-party countries. Now, they receive welfare. They are employed on almost equal terms with UK citizens. When Great Britain withdraws, they'll be treated as migrants from third-party countries, such as African, Asian countries".
At the same time, Great Britain is still among the so-called workaholic-countries which actually fund the EU. It accounts for 16% of the EU's GDP. Only Germany accounts for a larger share — 21%. Among lazy countries by this indicator are Greece, Portugal, and the Baltic states. It's logical that after Great Britain withdraws from the EU, there'll be the issue of how to divide the financial burden among those who stayed and why strong economies should support the weak ones.
Cannes, May 2011, press conference of the Danish film director Lars Von Trier.
