Foreign Affairs

unhappycamper

(60,364 posts) Wed Mar 9, 2016, 08:00 AM Mar 2016

Opinion: Inching toward a Fortress Europe

http://www.dw.com/en/opinion-inching-toward-a-fortress-europe/a-19102469

Turkey is demanding an ever-higher price for its cooperation in fending off refugees. As long as they stop the influx, Europeans are prepared to accept any legal fig leaf held up by Ankara, says Barbara Wesel.

Opinion: Inching toward a Fortress Europe
Barbara Wesel
08.03.2016

Victories look different when state elections loom and definitive headlines like "Refugee Crisis Ended!" are needed. Thus, Angela Merkel will have to be satisfied with a postponement, and half-heartedly sell Turkey's offer to take back illegal immigrants as a "breakthrough."

A "qualitative improvement" doesn't carry much weight in an election campaign. But nothing more was to be expected, even after twelve further hours of negotiations in Brussels. For Turkey's proposal, shot from the hip, came far too quickly and left far too many details unaddressed.

Merkel can't do anything right anymore

Once again, Eastern European countries cried foul, accusing Germany of having overrun them with the proposal. Although the German chancellor denies this, many heads of government now oppose her simply because they recognize her influence. Hungary, for instance, reiterated it opposition to resettling Syrians in Europe. Budapest is not going to let go of its fight against "the aliens."

Indeed, the Turkish proposal fails to set a start date for the promised readmission to Turkey of migrants newly arrived in Greece. And naturally the price was too steep for many EU member states: Pay another three billion euros for Syrian refugees living in Turkey? Drop EU visa requirements for Turks within three months? And speed up Turkey's EU accession negotiations?

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Since the United States started all this crap in the Middle East, the US should cough up the $3,000,000,000 to help house and feed these refugees.

Paying for it is simple also: Don't build four Littoral Combat Ships. Problem solved.

Since our wars on on our National Credit Card (http://www.usdebtclock.org/) not building them and giving money to help solve the crisis we started.

4 replies

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Opinion: Inching toward a Fortress Europe (Original Post) unhappycamper Mar 2016 OP

"Fortress Europe" blocking off immigrants... reminds me of the sci-fi-novel "The Cusanus-game" DetlefK Mar 2016 #1

Predictable. Have to wonder if this is the intent Downwinder Mar 2016 #2

Invading Iraq was ALWAYS about the oil. unhappycamper Mar 2016 #3

War and strife always causes refugees. Downwinder Mar 2016 #4

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)

1. "Fortress Europe" blocking off immigrants... reminds me of the sci-fi-novel "The Cusanus-game"

Reply to unhappycamper (Original post)

Wed Mar 9, 2016, 08:26 AM

Mar 2016

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17332205-the-cusanus-game

The main story is about time-travel and I won't give spoilers.

But the background of the novel is a dystopian Europe that has shut itself off from the rest of the world. Literal fortress-walls have been built, stretching from Eastern Europe, through the Balkans, through the center of Italy. (With fascism back and big in Italy.) Europe even managed to build some kind of border in the Atlantic. An impenetrable border.

Sometimes traders from Africa or the Middle-East come to this wall. Refugees stopped coming a long time ago: The wall is impenetrable. The guards use robotic sentries armed with non-lethal shock-guns, and the border holds.

I remember a scene where a trader mocks one of the european guards, that they are effectively prisoners. The guard shoots back that the world outside of Europe has nothing to offer but poverty and violence. "We have technological progress! What do you have? Face it: Our civilization left yours' behind a long time ago and you will never ever catch up!"