“Migration has always been a fact for Europe – and it will always be,” said the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her annual address to the EU on September 16th, 2020. “Throughout centuries, it has defined our societies, enriched our cultures, and shaped many of our lives. And this will always be the case.”
For those who may not know, von der Leyen is German, former defence minister, member of the Christian Democratic Union, and mother of seven. Among other things, she advocates equal rights for same-sex couples in the adoption of children. In other words, von der Leyen embodies all that modern conservatives are supposed to keep up with this times. What exactly does von der Leyen strive to preserve? Only God knows, because it is certainly neither Europe nor the European Union.
But let’s return to her initial claim. Migration has always been and always will be –for Europe. Herein lies the assumption that the invasion of foreigners into Europe is something most normal that the indigenous population must come to terms with, accept, and ultimately celebrate the arrival of their conquerors. Europe is a promised land where everyone who wants to has the right to come, while the rest of us locals have to be generous and hospitable. If the whole world rushes into Europe, it is justice, if a European dare to take a step outside Europe, it is colonialism, imperialism, and if he/she opposes the arrival of invasive species, it is xenophobia.It is a fact that migration has shaped our societies over the centuries, but it would be hard to say that this has also enriched our cultures. Undoubtedly, migration had a strong impact on people who were forced to experience them first-hand.
Does anyone imagine that the Romans were thrilled when the Huns invaded Europe in the 4th Century? Were the Visigoths enthusiastic when the Moors conquered Spain in the 8th Century? Did the Greeks perhaps cried out with happiness when the Ottomans destroyed the Byzantine Empire in the 15th Century? We could go on and on. After all, did the English enrich Native American culture when they came to America in the 17th Century? The Indians ended up in the reserves and the English conquered the continent.
Migration is death to the indigenous population, culture and the way of life, not enrichment. The “enrichments” von der Leyen talks about are also called changes. And the assumption that these will be the changes we would like, or which will be good for the indigenous population is downright naïve, if not harmful.
However, von der Leyen’s words suggest well enough her own views on the issue of migration. In her opinion, it is impossible to stop them. Migration has always been and will be. It is not our job to stop migration, because that would be a waste of time, our job is to manage it. The latter means that we make columns of migrants out of a chaotic herd of migrants, who will march steadily and happily into Europe. How very German…
No one is asking what these vagabonds will be doing in Europe. Namely, the answer has already been given. They are here to enrich us. You will forgive me if I prefer to continue living in the poverty offered by a homogeneous society. Modesty is, after all, a beautiful virtue.
“Presumption and bias are real obstacles that stand against a well-managed EU migration policy,” said Guardian commentator for EU affairs Shada Islam. According to Islam, the discussion of immigration to Europe in Europe intertwines with “racism, growing anti-Islamic disposition and complicated postcolonial relations.” Islam warns that “the EU’s commitment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law” is at stake. Even the European Union’s global reputation is at stake.
If the EU’s reputation in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere in the world has been wasted, the price we have to pay in order to stop the influx of immigration into Europe once and for all is the price I am willing to pay. It is after all, the price of peace.
Until that happens, migrants will flock to Europe instead of returning to their homelands. This should be the goal of EU migration policy. To prepare migrants to realise as quickly as possible that it is much better to be at home than in Europe. After all, it is not fair to rip those hordes of migrants out of their natural environment, settle them in a foreign society, surround them with strangers, and expect them to be as useful to society as all the rest of us who are part of Western Christian civilisation.