Denmark, the European far-right and refugees

Articles | Publié le 26.05.2011 An Irish point of view about the recent changes in European borders.

Recently, in a disturbing precedent, Denmark moved to re-instate border controls with Germany and Sweden. The Liberal Party, who command a minority government, caved in to the demands the far-right People's party. In so doing, the Danish government created a dangerous precedent for the EU and its member-states. Whilst Danish far-right populists snack on bacon crisps, Marine Le Pen, President of the (far-right) National Front is surely smiling at the news1.

 

From the very logic underpinning its existence, to the democratic and information deficits, the EU significant problems. If the EU exists only to serve the material prerogatives of state and market, perhaps it is doomed from the start. Yet, the EU has been a vehicle for certain progressive advances. Amongst which, it has instituted legislation supporting the equality of women and the rights of minorities. It has made certain that basic standards of human rights are respected, such as the abolition of the death penalty in its member states. The Schengen free-travel area is perhaps one of the most laudable and visible achievements of the EU to date.

 

A latent menace

 

These achievements are precisely what is under threat from right-wing populism. There exists a clear danger to these values and achievements from these movements - whether in the guise of the Danish People's Party, or the French National Front or even such mainstream figures as the unsavory Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose respect for democratic values is at best a farce2. The terrors of the twentieth century are not so distant so as to be forgotten - nor should the threat of populist right-wing fascism be seen as merely a historical danger.

 

Yet, to the glee of populist far-right movements across Europe, this ‘beautiful achievement' is now under threat. The Danish move is not only reckless, but it is disturbing. Their act, in and of itself is not so fearful, but rather it is the performativity in that act that we should worry about. It is the fact that through doing so, they have put an issue on the table which shouldn't be there at all, thus allowing the far-right fringe to steer political decision making. In France, this has already happened to some degree, where president Nicolas Sarkozy, feeling pressure from the National Front moved to adopt some of their policies, such as banning the burqa.

 

The actions of the Danish far-right, which are only slightly covert in their racism, emanate from the current crisis in North Africa, Libya in particular. The image of hordes of refugees desperate to get into Europe - because they have nowhere else to go - has given them the populist clout in sufficient to force the government to defy the EU's border regime. Thus, there is a showdown brewing, with the Commission and the Parliament quick to take their bait3. In so doing, they are granting these peddlers of knee-jerk-politics more visibility and credibility than they deserve. There is an alternative to this kind of chauvinist politics.

 

Another way through

 

Would it not be a better solution for the EU to lend meaningful assistance to these people? And by this, I do not mean facilitating “third country” regimes in keeping them languishing in camps on the fringes of Europe4. This part of the EU's current neighborhood policy, is certainly one of its least-laudable achievements. What are our rights, freedoms and material well-being worth if the cost is denying it to others? To those on the far-right, “outsiders” are to be feared, if not hated. Sadly, this logic has huge power in Europe, despite all our big talk of rights. Those are only for us then? Seems like it.

 

The best solution for the EU, both out of the current issues with the Danish far-right, and in terms of its response to the crisis in North Africa would be to bring its diplomatic and economic power to bear in creating a real solution for the people there. A solution based on friendship, equality and a shared sense of value in human freedom and dignity would surely be the greatest achievement of the EU to date. This would simultaneously make a real difference in the lives of the people in North Africa, by granting them access to the same rights and dignity we aspire to, and it would silence the far-right, and rob them of their ability to steer politics through xenophobic populism. Otherwise, the EU neighborhood policy is a policy where neighbour only means “Keep your distance”5. The failure to assist in creating a solution would represent nothing short of a capitulation to the far-right, and a failure in our ethical obligation to our neighbours.

 

1. Guardian article May 15.

 

2. Umberto Eco highlights this regressive threat posed by Berlusconi in his essay Turning back the clock.

 

3. Guardian article May 13. 

 

4. “Bare life”, a concept put forward by the Italian Philosopher Giorgio Agamben describes the power of political and legal structures to actively separate "political" beings (citizens) from "bare life" (bodies). How this effect is produced as a (even if unintended) consequence of the European border regime is explored by Sonja Buckel and Jens Wissel of the Frankfurt Institute of social research in their article State Project Europe: The Transformation of the European Border Regime and the Production of Bare Life' in International Political Sociology (2010) 4, 33-49.

 

5. Slavoj Zizek, Violence, chapter 4: Fear thy neighbour as thyself.

Rónán Mac Dubhghaill, Dublin Irlande

//Rubrique Europdirect