The European Union’s grand experiment in open borders and multiculturalism has become a grand failure. Europe has suddenly rediscovered the old adage that says, “Good fences make good neighbors.”
The New York Times almost chokes while reporting the story:
Ten years ago, as Denmark joined the European Union’s visa-free open travel zone, the outraged Danish People’s Party bought a decommissioned border guardhouse, vowing that one day it would be in use again. Back then, most Danes dismissed the move as a colorful publicity stunt by the newly formed right-wing party.
Ahhh, yes, in Europe, just as in the United States, leftists dismiss every right wing worry as uninformed at best and racist at worst.
But last month, the Danish People’s Party was doing a victory dance, offering to donate its picturesque brick guardhouse at the German border to the government. The party had achieved its goal: Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen had agreed to restore 24-hour customs control in exchange for support on a difficult budget package.
The deal set off an outcry in the European Union as tiny Denmark became the first member to seriously challenge the union’s crowning achievement: the free movement of goods and services across borders. Italy and France, wrangling over a huge influx of immigrants from North Africa, have been pushing for a lesser step — the ability to temporarily close borders in an emergency. This got the official nod of approval during a meeting of European leaders on Friday.
The Danes’ plan, on the other hand, has garnered a warning from the Eurocrats in Brussels who said the Scandinavian country’s plans are incompatible with its “obligations under European and international law.”
We think that’s what it said, but it’s difficult to tell because the Eurocrats’ warning was nearly illegible. But it’s not really their fault. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to write legibly while wearing blinders.
Source: New York Times
