EU Immigration Crisis Megathread

[Duque de Bragança]

Missed this one, but his is even better than when Martinus took a church for a mosque in Paris! 

Was it Sacré Cœur?

Now you are too harsh on Martinus. Now if you said Notre Dame, you would have had a point. 


You can see the minaret steeple pretty well in this picture.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89glise_Sainte-Odile_de_Paris

It's again in West Paris, bourgeois area as well but less so than the "area populated by culturally distinct Portuguese Parisians".

[Syt]

Anyways, at this point I'm ready to consider the EU a failure. The majority of countries is only in it for the common market and subsidies. For defense there's NATO. And ceding anything else to the EU is "unacceptable loss of sovereignty." Even free movement of citizens pisses of several countries (e.g. UK, but also Germans who worried about TEH POOR coming from Bulgaria or Romania to nab welfare checks), leave alone refugees. I would expect that some countries (e.g. France, Germany, possibly Austria) would carry on the idea of increasing integration of the national states into something bigger, but a lot of countries seem like they would be happier if they didn't have to align with the rest of Europe and just be left to do their own thing.

[Martinus]

Duque is lying - I never even saw this building in Paris. In any case I am not sure what's his point is. It's all very incoherent.

Not to mention I was hardly the only Languishite perplexed by that little detour in Paris...

[Duque de Bragança]

Go on, you are hilarious. Perplexed? Not used to walking would be more accurate, for these "death marches" (not Turkish style).

[Martinus]

Go on, you are hilarious.

Well, you are a racist.

[Syt]

I made pictures of the church and I recall we likened it to a wizard's tower, but not sure if anyone called it a mosque.

[Liep]

Anyways, at this point I'm ready to consider the EU a failure. The majority of countries is only in it for the common market and subsidies. For defense there's NATO. And ceding anything else to the EU is "unacceptable loss of sovereignty." Even free movement of citizens pisses of several countries (e.g. UK, but also Germans who worried about TEH POOR coming from Bulgaria or Romania to nab welfare checks), leave alone refugees. I would expect that some countries (e.g. France, Germany, possibly Austria) would carry on the idea of increasing integration of the national states into something bigger, but a lot of countries seem like they would be happier if they didn't have to align with the rest of Europe and just be left to do their own thing.

There's so much more that EU is and could be doing, but I'm ready to admit that it may have expanded too fast (at least without reforms).

[Duque de Bragança]

Go on, you are hilarious.

Well, you are a racist.

Ooh, what a fierce retort from a notorious classist bobo, very sectarian against muslims when he lived in Brussels. Talk about not throwing stones from a glass house.

[garbon]

How is calling out his concerns about religious fundamentalism, or his healthy lifestyle a valid retort to a charge of racism?

[Duque de Bragança]

Anyways, at this point I'm ready to consider the EU a failure. The majority of countries is only in it for the common market and subsidies. For defense there's NATO. And ceding anything else to the EU is "unacceptable loss of sovereignty." Even free movement of citizens pisses of several countries (e.g. UK, but also Germans who worried about TEH POOR coming from Bulgaria or Romania to nab welfare checks), leave alone refugees. I would expect that some countries (e.g. France, Germany, possibly Austria) would carry on the idea of increasing integration of the national states into something bigger, but a lot of countries seem like they would be happier if they didn't have to align with the rest of Europe and just be left to do their own thing.

With this EU failure, I would not count too much on it for France. The European constitution referendum was rejected in 2005 after all, and the 1992 Maastricht treaty referendum was only a very limited yes.

[Valmy]

There's so much more that EU is and could be doing, but I'm ready to admit that it may have expanded too fast (at least without reforms).

It is rather sad considering the BBC told all you guys the plan way back in the 80s.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Minister, Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last 500 years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and Italians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now, when it's worked so well?

James Hacker: That's all ancient history, surely.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes, and current policy. We had to break the whole thing up, so we had to get inside. We tried to break it up from the outside, but that wouldn't work. Now that we're inside we can make a complete pig's breakfast of the whole thing: set the Germans against the French, the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch. The Foreign Office is terribly pleased; it's just like old times.

James Hacker: Surely we're all committed to the European ideal.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Really, Minister.

James Hacker: If not, why are we pushing for an increase in the membership?

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Well, for the same reason. It's just like the United Nations, in fact. The more members it has, the more arguments it can stir up. The more futile and impotent it becomes.

James Hacker: What appalling cynicism.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes. We call it diplomacy, Minister.

[Liep]

The "elitist creative class" controlling the two major broadcasters is putting on a charity show for the Syrian refugees this Sunday, but the "common" Danes are having none of it and are currently spamming Facebook with even for Denmark quite overt racism.

[Liep]

There's so much more that EU is and could be doing, but I'm ready to admit that it may have expanded too fast (at least without reforms).

It is rather sad considering the BBC told all you guys the plan way back in the 80s.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Minister, Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last 500 years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and Italians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now, when it's worked so well?

James Hacker: That's all ancient history, surely.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes, and current policy. We had to break the whole thing up, so we had to get inside. We tried to break it up from the outside, but that wouldn't work. Now that we're inside we can make a complete pig's breakfast of the whole thing: set the Germans against the French, the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch. The Foreign Office is terribly pleased; it's just like old times.

James Hacker: Surely we're all committed to the European ideal.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Really, Minister.

James Hacker: If not, why are we pushing for an increase in the membership?

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Well, for the same reason. It's just like the United Nations, in fact. The more members it has, the more arguments it can stir up. The more futile and impotent it becomes.

James Hacker: What appalling cynicism.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes. We call it diplomacy, Minister.

[Duque de Bragança]

Danes joined the EEC at the same time as the Brits. 
De Gaulle was right indeed about the UK. 

[mongers]

The "elitist creative class" controlling the two major broadcasters is putting on a charity show for the Syrian refugees this Sunday, but the "common" Danes are having none of it and are currently spamming Facebook with even for Denmark quite overt racism.

The 2nd half of that is certainly true in the UK; some of the stuff on social media and in the tabloid comments is really hate filled, just nasty.