March 21, 2016 -
Mateusz Piskorski, Izvestiya -
Translated by J. Arnoldski
“Ukraine’s ‘Eurodream’ is turning out to be a fraud”
Polish political scientist and director of the European Center for Geopolitical Analysis, Mateusz Piskorski, on why the Polish Sejm is discussing building a wall on the Polish-Ukrainian border:
The “Eurodream” continues to be fed to Ukrainians. However, Ukraine’s membership in the EU sounds too unrealistic for the citizens of this failed state, this “wild field” controlled by oligarchical groups, to believe.
Given the absence of a state or state policies guaranteeing security or the realization of the basic social and economic needs of citizens, the “Eurodream” remains the only hope for those from whom any prospects for living in a normal country have been taken away.
Due to the lack of prospects in their homeland, Ukrainians are leaving their country en-masse. In Europe, especially Eastern Europe, immigrants from Ukraine already significantly outnumber migrants from the Middle East and North Africa.
According to official data, on the territory of Poland alone there are now more than 2 million migrant laborers with Ukrainian passports whom local authorities have called refugees in their arguments with the EU.
Between January and November 2015, 706,000 Ukrainians received official work permits. In addition to Poland, the migrant wave has also hit Hungary and Czech Republic and is reaching the borders of Germany. The fact that within 3 years of abolishing the visa regime 5 to 8 million Ukrainian immigrants will come to the EU is already starting to sound frightening to Europeans.
The “Eurodream” in Ukraine has not come true and Ukrainians themselves are leaving for the West in search of it. However, the same “Eurodream” is nowhere to be found in the EU itself. Working in slave conditions and not receiving payment for months at a time, Ukrainians are beginning to understand that no-one is waiting for them in Europe. Moreover, migrants from Ukraine do not receive the social benefits that immigrants from Libya, Syria, or Afghanistan receive immediately upon arrival even without working. Kiev, nevertheless, is trying to feed its rebellious people with more promises and keep the “Eurodream” from fading away entirely.
It’s also perfectly understood in Brussels that the further collapse of the Ukrainian economy and the mass-scale humanitarian crisis in Ukraine could lead to disastrous consequences for the EU. It is precisely for this reason that Chairman of the Eurocommission, Jean-Claude Juncker, stated that in April the European Commission intends to further discuss the decision on cancelling the visa regime for Ukrainian citizens.
Of course, the meaningfulness of these discussions can be doubted. But why in April? The answer is simple: a referendum on the ratification of the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine is to be put to referendum in Holland on April 6th. The Dutch understand that they are already unable to cope with the hundreds of thousands of migrants coming from Arab countries and they are not at all enthusiastic about accepting additional masses of migrants, this time from Ukraine, into their country.
The results of public opinion polls conducted in the run up to the referendum in the Netherlands suggest that Dutch citizens will give Kiev a firm “no.” Whether or not their views will be taken into account by the Dutch government, however, is difficult to say.
Nevertheless, such a response would be equivalent to a “no” answer to Ukraine’s association with the EU.
The European Commission is at an impasse. On the one hand, its officials understand that the new influx of immigrants will not be accepted by EU countries’ citizens. On the other hand, they realize that by denying Ukrainians their “Eurodream,” they will deprive the Ukrainian government of any legitimacy.
At the same time, the idea of replacing Poroshenko with someone else from among the “post-Maidan” elite is out of the question, and Washington is increasingly distancing itself from the search for solutions and letting others know that they do not consider the Ukrainian chaos to be a problem of the US.
There is yet another reason why European politicians are doubting the wisdom of abolishing visas.
Today’s Ukraine, as any failed state, is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Ukrainians are already getting “Polish cards” en masse which allegedly indicate that they have Polish origins, on the basis of which they can receive residence permits valid in the Schengen zone. This “service” costs around 2,000 euros and includes the forging of documents and waiving interviews with the Polish consulate.
Thus, under the guise of being “Poles,” the brightest representatives of the Ukrainian nationalist Banderist movement are flooding into Europe. It is not difficult to imagine that a Ukrainian passport can be purchased for a small amount by a citizen of another country, such as a Middle Eastern or Northern African one.
Experts are warning that the next stream of migrants could come to Europe through the Ukrainian corridor.
This would happen immediately after the closing of the existing Balkan corridors. As a result of abolishing the visa regime with Ukraine, the EU might face an influx of not only several million Ukrainians, but also hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Arab countries.
In the Polish parliament, deputies are already discussing the question of building a wall on the Polish-Ukrainian border. While official Warsaw has rejected this idea, it nevertheless enjoys fairly wide public support.
If the European Commission, giving into Kiev and Washington’s pressure, decides to grant Ukrainian citizens visa-free entry to EU territory, this will lead to a new wave of public protests not only against migrants from Africa and the Middle East, but also against immigrants carrying Ukrainian passports.
Millions of Ukrainians have been surprised to find that Europeans display a worse attitude towards them than towards Muslim immigrants at least in terms of political correctness. But the most frightening thing is that Ukrainians understand that they have nowhere else to go. No one is waiting from them in Europe, the US, or Canada. Their “Eurodream” is turning out to be a fantasy and fraud. The results will be unfortunate for ordinary citizens and for the politicians in Kiev. The latter have nowhere to run.
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