Orban's Migrant Crisis

First, before the Second World War, the nation of Czechoslovakia had been a strong democracy in Central Europe, but beginning in the mid 1930s it faced challenges from both the West and the East. Until the Soviet’s invasion where they installed a whole new communist government in Prague. For the next twenty

Many European nations suffered a prolonged period of instability and financial instability. This instability caused citizens of some countries to be willing to give up their democratic government for a strong, authoritarian

November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall falls amid the thawing of the Cold War. Consequently, an elated Europe welcomed a new ‘borderless’ continent. The Schengen agreements dissolved anachronistic boundaries that once separated nations, allowing peoples, such as the Ruthenians, to exercise a loyalty to the states within their immediate realm of influence, while simultaneously preserving their independent identities. A quarter of a century later the continent is amid a refugee crisis unseen since World War II. Detention, deportation, bureaucratic barriers, military, and satellite technologies have all been a part of the some of the most extensive and aggressive border enforcement programs in history. Endeavors that have stoked xenophobic fears and spawned grievous confrontations between some of the wealthiest nations on earth and a stateless people from the most impoverished.

The demands, “adopted at the storm meetings held at the universities” (Doc 1) call for freedom in harsh and extreme tones. Instead of compromise with communists, the students request for the “withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Hungary” (Doc 1) and to have “no interference in Hungary’s internal affairs” (Doc 1). As an alternative to Soviet rule, the students desire for Hungary to be in control of its internal affairs. The people of Hungary wish for “equal rights for individual farms and cooperative members” (Doc 1). Hungarians envision a life without communist rule intervening with the responsibilities of the country and demonstrate the idea by “[cutting] out the hated hammer and sickle that the Communists had placed at [the] center [of the Hungarian flag]” and proclaiming that they have created a new flag of freedom. ( Doc

In the final draft I will expand on each of the issues, by looking into more specific examples of both what different European countries are doing policy wise, as well as what the sentiment is among the refugees in the different areas of Europe. To fully be able to understand the conditions the refugees are facing I will be using other scholars ethnography work; One of those works being Katerina Rozakou’s piece regarding the management of refugees in Greece. As a result of that knowledge I will be able to come to an accurate conclusion as to what course of action should be taken in Europe as a whole, to deal with this ongoing

There have been many refugees trying to flee from their home countries because of war. One country is tired of it. In “Migrants Race North as Hungary Builds a Border Fence,” by Alison Smale you will learn that Hungary has decided to build a fence, because so many migrants are trying to get into the country. The Hungarian fence is still under construction as of August 24th. Hungary thinks that the fence will stop the migrants from coming thru to get to Germany, but most say the migrants are so determined it won’t stop them at all. Some Hungarians actually say that the fence is making the migrants want to come more.

Although the 1956 Hungarian Revolution only lasted for a short period, there are many who believe that this revolution was the first step in decreasing the Soviet Union’s control over the Hungarian government. Despite the lack of an immediate change, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution had a major long-term effect by mobilizing the Hungarian civil society for future conflicts that took place between the Hungarians and the Soviet government. Towards the end of the Second World War the Soviet army came and occupied Hungary, and remained there until 1991. From the end of World War Two until the Cold War ended in 1991 the relationship between Hungary and the Soviet Union was characterized by the Soviet intervention in the domestic politics of Hungary.

While countries like Germany and Sweden host more Syrian refugees, today countries like Hungary are closing off their borders to more refugees especially those that are Muslim. Due to the 100,000 people that fled from Syria, Lebanon, and other countries to Brazil during the 20th century and the other immigrants that compose the population, Brazil has a greater cultural relativism than the European nations (Osborn, "In Brazil, Syrian"). They accept and understand the Syrians’ practices in terms of their culture instead of their own diverse Brazilian culture. On the other hand, Hungary and Austria show great ethnocentrism as they judge the Syrian’s Muslim culture based on their own Christian principles instead of basing the characterization from the Muslim society. These countries, like Hungary, are afraid of the Muslim culture and the dangers it imposes on free Europe, basing their judgments on incidents that occurred centuries ago and in other cultures. Many like Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary see the Christian values of their country as superior and more ethical to that of the Muslims, claiming "The people … grew up in a different religion and represent a completely different culture. Most are not Christian, but Muslim … That is important because Europe and European culture have Christian roots,” (Tharoor, "Hungary’s Orban Invokes"). The majority of Hungary’s ethnocentrism stems from its history with the Muslim Ottoman Empire rule over Hungary during the 16th and 17th

In the attempts to “manage the immigrant crisis” several strategic mistakes have been made, which have shaken the functioning of migration policy in the European community. Particular controversy was stirred up by a plan for the relocation of 120,000 refugees suggested in September 2015. Some months later (April/May 2016), the European Commission came up with the idea of fines for those countries which would not receive the relocated refugees. The fine for one unaccepted foreigner was supposed to be €250,000. The attempt to impose a quota of immigrants on member countries together with high fines contributed to further divisions inside the EU.

Most people might have seen some stories in the news through various media about illegal immigrants and refugees trying to get into several European countries due to the terror of ISIS. Nowadays the nations throughout the world tend to become much more polarized when it comes to the policy about the refugees and national border. One nation claims a wider range of engagement policy, emphasizing globalization, and in contrast, another insists to keep their own interests intact through regionalization. Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, belongs to the former faction, who welcomes globalization, while Donald Trump, a well-known U.S. presidential candidate, is in the latter camp, who advocates

The Roma people have lived in Hungary for several centuries, but they still face discrimination in their minority status. And, Lack of participation in political, economic, and social activities has a negative impact in their lives. As the result, Policies geared towards empowerment of the Romany should be formulated and implemented.

The European Union has greatly evolved over the decades since it has begun into a well-evolved quasi-state of over 28 countries, and over five hundred million citizens. The European Union has been regarded as a method to bring democratic stability and economic prosperity to less developed democracies in East and Central Europe. Although the European Union has a mandate to bring all of these standards, the European Union lacks these basic standards for their overall institution. This structural problem has given the European Union its own ‘democratic deficit’. The rise of the democratic deficit has arisen from many undemocratic characteristics of EU institutions, and a lack of a demos or a lack of a single socio cultural European identity. In order for a political body to remain legitimate, it must have the trust and support of the citizens it governs, and make changes for the continuation of its future. In other words, if the European Union does not take action to combat its democratic deficit, the future of the European Unions institution will be at risk. Another serious issue is the European Union has seen democratic backsliding of many Eastern European countries. This paper will discuss the major issues that the Democratic Deficit has caused for the European Union, and what possible reforms can be done to help fix the democratic deficit.

The important underlining problem is the fact that these migrants are arriving and staying in Italy and Greece. Both Italy and Greece are going through an economic crisis that cannot sustain the migrants that are landing within their borders; they are asking the European Union to give them relief, by imposing quotas to redistribute the migrants to other European nations that are a part of the migration policy. The migrant crisis also brings insecurity to nations such as Italy and Greece because of they are not prepared to deal with the amount of people entering in their borders. Not all European countries

Willy Brandt once remarked:” Western Europe has only 20 or 30 more years of democracy left in it; after that it will slide under the surrounding sea of dictatorship” (Crozier, Huntington, Watanuki, 1973, 2). It would seem that democratic governments have become increasingly unable of facing “the challenges of the modern world”. Specifically, democratic European governments have become increasingly incapable to adequately represent the interests of the governed, while economic growth has also produced forces within nations that could potentially lead to the potential “regression”(Crozier, 1973, 49-50) of European states from democracy into tyranny (Crozier, 1973, 49-50).

In a classroom discussion, we addressed the unfortunate reality that people cannot choose where they are born. Population growth has maintained a steady increase, even in war-stricken regions like the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Thousands of people have been killed and even more have been displaced from places they thought they could call home. The factors above have led to one of the largest migrations in the modern era. Wars in these regions have had a direct impact on Europe with the mass migration of refugees, asylum seekers, or the all-encompassing word of migrants. European nations now have conundrums of their own in regards to whether or not they can accept these refugees or not. My question therefore is, why do countries like Germany accept migrants and refugees, but countries like Hungary do not? What are the factors that make for this variation? European Union (EU) frontline states,