Living together in 21st century – Mission
possible?
Latchezar
Toshev
The wave of migration caused by the war in Syria has
challenged politicians in Europe to address properly and promptly the
current problems which Europe faces today. If the people in
Europe can’t see in the deeds of their representatives an adequate
response to today’s problems, it is very likely that those
politicians are going to lose their elections and, as a consequence,
Europe will fall into the hands of a new generation of leaders who
may question the integrative European model altogether. The fears of
the European people are understandable, but they are additionally
fueled by populist parties which obviously think that they would
profit from this fear and gain much greater numbers of votes. Against
this background, there is a serious and visible problem: the rift
between words and deeds within the European family. The famous
principle of European solidarity and the “family principle” are
now being put on test. It is not realistic to expect that the
measures undertaken unilaterally by some states in Europe could
achieve success. We should face the realities and recognize that
events unthinkable before happen today in the world. The founding
members of United Europe (namely of EU and the Council of Europe) are
far from being immune to such negative trends. The great achievement
of European unity after WWII is now under threat.
The main policy of Bulgaria during its Chairmanship of the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and its parliamentary
dimension (10th of November 2015 – 18th of May 2016) was aimed to
strengthen European unity and reaffirm the principle of European
cooperation. “Unity makes strength!” was
the slogan which went through all of the Bulgarian activities during
this presidency. It explains all!
Migration – the crisis is far from over
The Declaration of the General Assembly of UN on refugees and
migrants, which was adopted in September 2016, can be considered as a
principle basis for seeking a solution. First of all, the evaluation
of the situation shows that around the world there are about 22-23
million refugees (including 1.7 million internally displaced persons
in Ukraine) as a result of armed conflicts and geopolitical division.
Currently in Turkey there are around 2.7 million refugees fleeing the
war in Syria who are looking for better and safer life in Europe.
Although the “Balkan corridor “ now is under stable control, the
Mediterranean path is not adequately monitored.
Analyzing the reasons for the wave of refugees, which may come in
much greater numbers from Africa to Europe, we could face a
significant increase in population.
For example, the increase of the population in Egypt – from 25
million in 1955 to 94 million people today, who all are all looking
for a prosperous future for themselves and for their children – has
the potential to turn into a next great wave of migration.
In the case of those with predominantly desperate attitudes, their
only way is the search for a better life abroad. In order to avoid
such a great new wave of migration, there are serious considerations
for massive EU investment in countries that are possible sources of
such migration, in order to improve the living conditions there.
Last but not least, more than 60% of the newcomers in Europe are
not refugees in the sense of the UN Convention on the Status of
Refugees. Should the decision-makers in Europe adopt a plan to
separate the real refugees who need protection from those who do not,
and then organize a comprehensive program to repatriate those who do
not meet the criteria for asylum, then such a plan would be accepted
and supported by European citizens and would help soothe their
justified or unjustified fears.
Living together in Europe
The migrant crisis is not the only problem in this respect.
There are also other current threats, such as the uncertainty
arising from the financial crisis Europe suffered, as well as the
sense of relative decline – compounded by perception of a
leadership deficit in shaping Europe’s present and future hybrid
war in defense of European unity…
Let’s recall that 2015 started and ended with cruel terrorist
acts in France.
What should be mentioned here is the fact that the perpetrators of
the most atrocious of the 2015 terrorist acts in France were all
natives of Europe – going back as far as a third generation. They
were not migrants, although their grandparents were. We witnessed the
identical situation in Belgium, where the perpetrators of the
terrorist acts were European citizens, not migrants. We should
address the problem of their non-integration, which had been
neglected until recently.
Emergence of parallel societies in Europe with their own values
and rules
I wish to touch upon the problem of the emergence of parallel
societies in Europe with values different from that of the
mainstream, which could eventually endanger the rights, safety and
security of all people.
In June 2011, after long and tough clashes in the chamber, the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted its
recommendation to the Committee of Ministers called Living Together
in the 21st Century. I had the privilege to be the rapporteur on this
issue.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe proposed that
the governments of member states implement the concept of the
intercultural approach to dealing with such problems in order to
avoid or eliminate the possibility of the formation of parallel
groups that are isolated form the mainstream and fail to integrate
into society.
Unlike with the passive multicultural model, which lays out
opportunities and leaves the people on their own (which most often
results in the newcomers missing out on such opportunities due to
lack of awareness, language barriers
etc.), the
intercultural approach implies active interaction between the
culturally different groups in society in order to develop the best
approach to living together.
When the laws and conditions for true integration fall short –
not only for the newcomers, but also for other traditionally
marginalized groups – what can be done?
Of course, those people who are coming or have come
lawfully
to live in a country should not be expected to leave
elements of their identity – faith, language and culture –
behind. However, they should be expected to show willingness to
integrate into their new country’s society, not only by learning
its language, but through gaining knowledge and understanding of the
local culture, and they must respect democracy, human rights –
including the rights of women – and the rule of law.
This means the model of European society should be improved in
order
to prevent the formation of parallel societies.
In October 2015 the Assembly once again looked back at this issue
by reaffirming its 2011 position – this time without any sharp
disagreements between people of different views and with almost
unanimity. It is now the governments’ turn to act and to apply
measures to change the current European model into an intercultural
one as proposed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe in 2011.
I would strongly advocate converting the current European
“Multi-culti” model into this new proactive
intercultural approach, which undoubtedly will
contribute significantly to our common security and will help indeed
to eliminate the formation of parallel societies around Europe.
Without it, neither social security nor economic security or
prosperity can be achieved.
In turn we should build cultural bridges by encouraging European
citizens to familiarize themselves with – and to respect – the
culture, language, traditions and history of immigrant groups. They
already came to Europe several decades ago, and they neither should
be left isolated or self-isolating, nor should they be allowed to
ostracize those among their communities who are successfully
integrated. The goals we pursue can be achieved only through
dialogue, understanding and mutual acceptance and involvement, not
through a holistic approach of a social engineering.
We have to stand for this goal together and demonstrate our clear
devotion to the vision of a shared future, which in turn, is the core
value of European Unity and cooperation.
By
Latchezar Toshev
The article reflects solely the personal view of its author!
Latchezar Toshev was a member of the Bulgarian Parliament
since 1991- 2005 and 2008 - 2013, and a long-standing member of
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
