roves, amassing a crowd of 20,000, displaying nationalist German sentiment, and calling for the purification of Western society. In Poland’s last election, the conservative Law and Justice party won the election with 37.6 percent of the vote. This is first time in 26 years that a coalition government will not have to be formed, as they have enough representation in the bicameral government. Farther to the west, France’s far-right party, National Front, is set to win regional elections across the country in December. Its current leader, Marine Le Pen, will run in 2017 on a platform predicated upon Islamophobia and underscored by Euroscepticism. These calls are echoed all across the continent, whether in Germany, France, The Netherlands, or in Scandinavia.
Almost all of the far right parties share an animosity towards the migration crisis and are frustrated with the inefficiency of the seat of European Governance in Brussels. Perhaps – as an unintentional byproduct of their goodwill and generosity – the governments of the EU made a significant blunder by permitting the influx of migrants to reach alarming levels. In the past few months, Germany implemented border controls and halted the unbridled flow of migrants into the country. This decision came as a surprise to many, as the country that was once unconditionally welcoming chose to control its borders in ways not seen since the Second World War. Similarly, in an act of defiance to Brussels, on Sept. 14, the Netherlands, Austria, and Slovakia followed suit. Hungary imposed strict border controls and prevented migrants from entering their country as well, earning the adulation of their people and the scorn of the authorities in Brussels.
On the surface, these actions have allowed governments to reintroduce order, or the semblance thereof, to their borders and temporality quell any lingering fears. However, this is a direct threat to Europe’s Schengen Agreement, which provides for passport-free travel. If Europe were to regress and break the hard-fought fraternal bonds, the Europe of today, symbolic of both cultural preservation and continued innovation, will be in grave peril.
The migration crisis is only the surface of other deep-seated issues that are now coming to fruition in Europe. The mass migration has proven to be the ideal time for the far-right parties to make their final push, build upon, and strengthen their base. The migrant crises notwithstanding, this accumulated animosity points towards the centrality of European governance. For many, the culpability of the current issues resides in Brussels, the defacto capital of the European Parliament. Those in charge are accused of being aloof, and their policies are reflective of their disconnect with all of the European countries that bear the burden of the migrant crises.
Perhaps in the not-so-distant future, the migrant crises can pose a deeper problem: the dissolution of a unified Europe. In times of economic, social, or political crisis, reactionary politics becomes the colloquial, making the rise of a fringe candidate realizable. If we have learned anything in the past 80 years, it is that once we are driven by fear and skepticism, we make rash, presumptuous decisions that benefit only those who extol radical policies.
While it is true that the European governments have an obligation to preserve their individual cultures, they must do so while remaining open and unbiased. Let’s hope that the seemingly implacable momentum of today’s reactionary politicians will, in fact, be short lived. Europe has come too far to fall back to its seemingly contradictory reticence and brashness.