Immigration, the first priority of the French or the first subject of controversy in these European elections? Meeting for the last time before the June 9 vote on the France 2 set this Tuesday, June 4, the seven main leaders of the list clashed once again on the migration issue. Should we be surprised, though? The answer is no, because immigration arouses no less passion among our European neighbors.
In Italy in particular, where “the question of migrants has always been one of the central themes of the European political debate and occupies a large place in the programs of the main parties”, maintains the transalpine television channel Sky TG24. Daily life He will messenger even warns of the risk that the vote of young people will go more to “ultra-right lists”. Nothing very surprising, even though Italy is on the front line facing the arrival of migrants, recruited by mafias for work, notes the Transalpine press agency. ANSA.
Trump, an influence in Europe?
On the Old Continent, anti-immigration political groups seem to be on the rise. This is the case in Germany, where the far-right AfD party, one of whose municipal candidates was attacked with a knife this Wednesday, comes second behind the Christian Democrats (CDU) in voting intentions in the ballot. European. “Migration policy is one of the most urgent subjects in Europe and poses great challenges to the European Union,” writes the local media Regensburger nachrichten. Faced with the prospect of a brown wave in the European Parliament, the German television channel ZDF Heute is concerned about the influence in Europe of Donald Trump, “who acts like a vitamin injection for right-wing populists”.
In Portugal, the weekly Espresso wonders about the possibility of a modification of the migration pact – for which the National Rally called on the government to refer the matter to the CJEU on June 5 – “during the next legislature”. It must be said that at a time when the far-right Chega party comes third in the polls, “the theme of immigration continues to dominate the electoral campaign”, underlines the television channel RTP Noticias. In the wake of Journal of News which takes up a survey conducted by the Porto Academic Federation (FAP), according to which “migration and refugees constitute the main challenge for the European Union in the near future”.
Progressivism in danger on the Old Continent?
Same story in the Netherlands, where Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration party came first in the legislative elections last November. Thus, the Dutch tabloid Hart van Nederland depicted “asylum” as the “central theme of the European elections” in June 2024. For its part, Het Parool warns of the risks of going backwards after the European election which takes place on Thursday June 6 in the land of tulips: “Will Amsterdam’s progressive ambitions disappear if Europe, like the new Dutch government, adopts a much more conservative course on the right?”
Even sharper, the Spanish daily El País points the finger at “far-right parties (which) stigmatize asylum seekers” to justify a “harder” migration policy. And headline: “Illegal immigrants do not exist”, while the alternative media El Salto denounces the “exploitation” of migrants by the European agricultural sector. But in the center-right daily La Vanguardia, Javier Melero throws a wrench into the pond: “With more than 16% of the immigrant population in Catalonia, we should perhaps try to understand where we are going”. Before clarifying his thoughts: “Perhaps it is time to take a break and try to understand where we are going”…