From Norway to Portugal there is a surge in racist and anti-migration sentiment, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the European statistical office Eurostat. Almost half of the surveyed black residents of the EU have experienced discrimination and domestic insults over the past six months, and more than a third of people from Asian countries have experienced difficulties finding employment and obtaining education due to their origin. According to experts, this state of affairs tends to “stable growth.”
During this action, carried out in September-October of this year, employees of the statistics system surveyed 6,725 people in various EU countries. At the same time, the respondents represented almost all segments of the adult population of the United Europe. Experts point out that, compared to 2016, the number of “racially offended citizens” has increased by six percentage points and currently amounts to 45%. Among the reasons for changes in these indicators are economic and social problems, as well as gaps in the migration legislation of a particular country.
There is another important factor that most directly influences the corresponding overall picture. According to observers, the growth of racism is recorded, first of all, in states where leading positions in politics or society are occupied by right-wing parties. We are talking mainly about Austria and Germany. For example, today in the Republic of Austria the popular trust ratings are headed by the Freedom Party (FPO), an organization created in 1956 by a former SS officer, which insists on the expulsion of illegal immigrants and refugees. And in Germany, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which opposes the assimilation of “outsiders” into German society, is represented at local and federal levels of government. It was in these two states that three out of four respondents reported harassment (72% and 74%, respectively).
In this regard, the director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, called on all EU countries to “carefully check any information about manifestations of racism.” “It is necessary to draw conclusions even from seemingly insignificant violations,” he summed up in particular. “The phrase “we are more equal than others” should not be heard either in Europe or anywhere else.”
It is still unknown whether individual EU countries will pay attention to this call.
