Conservative xenophobia – German edition

Focus is important: In the actual political process in Europe, the far right has taken the lead in nativist demagogy. But the spread of the attitude and its incorporation into official policy is happening primarily by the retreat from democratic and rule-of-law principles on the part of center-right parties that embrace the xenophobic and nativist pitches.

The key element in the rise of the far-right parties in the EU has been the capitulation of the center-right/conservative parties to the anti-immigrant, ethno-nationalist appeals promoted particularly by the far right.

In the cases of German politics, the center-left Social Democrats, the Greens and even elements of the far left have joined the Christian Democratic conservatives in beating the anti-immigrant drums. The Guardian reports:

Germany’s decision to tighten controls at every one of its land borders seems driven chiefly by politics, is difficult to justify in law, deals a heavy blow to Europe’s prized free movement and could severely test EU unity.

Berlin said on Monday that controls in place at its border with Austria since 2015, and since last year with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, would be extended next week to France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark.

The move would curb migration and “protect against the acute dangers posed by Islamist terrorism and serious crime,” said [Social Democrat] Nancy Faeser, the interior minister. (1)

This could potentially disrupt the “four freedoms” of the European Union, which are the freedom of movement for “goods, persons, services, and capital within the EU. They are the cornerstones of the Single Market and the common currency. Many citizens see them as the greatest achievement of the European unification project.” (2)

From FRANCE 24: (3)

Austria’s Die Presse reports:

For the first time, Germany is reintroducing border controls around the entire country – including those countries that were once joint pioneers of opening [of borders under the Schengen system]. This is justified [in political rhetoric] by the large rush of asylum seekers and the security dangers posed by it. The introduction is politically motivated by the recent election successes of the xenophobic AfD in [the German states of] Saxony and Thuringia. (4)

It's always helpful to be alert when the phrase “the large rush of asylum seekers” and especially “the security dangers posed by it.” News services like Die Presse should not be so sloppy in using such terms without describing more specifically what is meant and over what time period. Germany this year is not facing a “large rush of asylum seekers” compared to previous years.

Part of the maliciously intended rhetoric and the laziness of the press in amplifying it also has to do with the large number of Ukrainian refugees that have come to the EU since 2022. The number of those who came to the EU in the year after Russia’s 2022 invasion was something like five times the number who came in the so-called “crisis” year of 2015-16. They were absorbed generally effectively. But that hasn’t had any effect on the nativist rhetoric which still continues as though that never happened. That’s in no small part because the nativist groups focus on immigrants from Muslim countries – as seen in Faeser’s statement above.

The Guardian report does note, “Schengen members currently operating controls on particular borders include Austria, which cites Ukraine-related security threats and pressure on asylum to check arrivals from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Hungary.” I don’t want to give the Austrian authorities too much credit because they have been using xenophobic scare rhetoric, as well. But there has been some apparently legitimate concern about Hungary loosening visa requirements for Russian and Belarussian citizens that could facilitate illegal Russian activity in other countries because Hungary is part of the Schengen zone, meaning that other Schengen countries would normally be required to respect Hungary’s checks on people entering it, and those people can then travel freely to other Schengen countries, normally without additional border checks. (5)

Notes:

Henley, Jon (2024): ‘The end of Schengen’: Germany’s new border controls put EU unity at risk. The Guardian 09/10/2024. <https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/10/the-end-of-schengen-germanys-new-border-controls-put-eu-unity-at-risk> (Accessed: 2024-15-09).

(2) The four freedoms in the EU: Are they inseparable? Jacques Delors Institut Berlin/Bertelsmann Stiftung 11/22/2017. <https://www.delorscentre.eu/en/publications/detail/publication/the-four-freedoms-in-the-eu-are-they-inseparable> (Accessed: 2024-15-09).

(3) Germany tightens controls at all borders in immigration crackdown. FRANCE 24 English 09/10/2024. <https://youtu.be/wZ4i4_nL71Y?si=HccYTz-rUMxC9gsa> (Accessed: 2024-15-09).

(4) Bühm, Wolfgang (2024): Der langsame Tod des Schengen-Abkommens. Die Presse 14.09.2024, 11. My translation from German

(5) Erleichterte Einreise für Russen: Deutsche Politiker fordern Schritte gegen Ungarn. Der Standard 04.08.2024. <https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000231108/einreise-fuer-russen-deutsche-politiker-fordern-schritte-gegen-ungarn> (Accessed: 2024-15-09).