Brussels, 02/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, addressing the European Parliament on Tuesday 2 February, said that Europe, faced with the migration challenge, is going through a transformational crisis which it must confront with unity and solidarity.
In the face of external threats, such as an uncontrolled influx of migrants, and internal threats, such as terrorism, people are questioning Europe's ability to offer an answer, stated Ilves. He said that, with 2 million migrants expected to come to the EU in the next two years, Europe must act as one and share the load. “We owe it to our grandparents”, he said, pointing out that the situation had been worse in Germany after the Second World War, when 12 million people had been displaced. He also urged tighter control of the EU's external borders and called for a common asylum policy so that inadmissible requests for international protection can be set aside. He warned that, were Europe to fail on migration, it would be the populists of all colours who would benefit most.
Former Social Democratic MEP Ilves was highly critical of Russia which, in annexing Crimea, is in breach of a raft of international treaties. Drawing a parallel between the situation in the east of Ukraine and the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938, he warned against too much talking which could weaken the strength of the action.
Free movement of data. Estonia is famous for the extent to which the new technologies are part of daily life. Ilves spoke about Skype, which had been invented in his country before flourishing in the United States. While pan-European markets are seeing the light of day in the banking, health and transport sectors, “we are missing opportunities to put a single market in place”, he regretted. Ilves is the co-author of a World Bank study on the potential of the internet.
To prevent Europe from becoming “a third rate player, dominated by the United States and by India and China, too”, he suggested that free movement of data be elevated to the rank of fifth fundamental freedom guaranteed by the European treaties. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)
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