Following mass migrations from the Middle East and Africa, migration has become a hot-button issue in Europe. At the same time that millions of migrants made their way into Europe, hard-line right parties gained prominence across the continent. Many people, including Hillary Clinton, believe that mass migration is at least partially behind the recent wave of nationalism.
Indeed, Hillary Clinton is taking a surprisingly hard stance on migration. She has warned European leaders that if they want to push back the rising tide of nationalism, they will have to curb migration.
It’s believed that at least one million people have arrived in Europe since 2015. Many of those were fleeing war zones and seeking out better economic opportunities. At first, some European countries, including Germany, took a relatively open arms approach, allowing many thousands of migrants to settle.
With many European countries struggling with high debt, poor public finances, and rising living costs, many began to wonder if their country could afford the additional burdens of housing immigrants. In Poland, Hungary, Austria, and elsewhere, hard-right parties have since enjoyed an up-swell of support, using anti-migration rhetoric to rally the masses.
Immigration has become an intensely political topic in both Europe and the United States, where a several thousand strong migrant caravan is making its way towards the border. Clinton noted: “The use of immigrants as a political device and as a symbol of government gone wrong, of attacks on one’s heritage, one’s identity, one’s national unity has been very much exploited by the current administration here [in the United States].”
It seems that Clinton believes you have to fight fire with fire. If immigration is garnering support for nationalist parties, more moderate parties should try to crack down on immigration. Doing so might remove a pillar of support for nationalist parties.
Clinton is not pushing for the same harsh countermeasures that many right-wing parties are promoting, however. Clinton emphasized: “There are solutions to migration that do not require clamping down on the press, on your political opponents and trying to suborn the judiciary, or seeking financial and political help from Russia to support your political parties and movements.”
