The rise of right-wing nationalists in Europe together with resurgent populist sentiments in various other nations seems to be threatening the legitimacy of many central democratic governments.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in an address to world leaders in Paris for Armistice Commemorations, highlighted the dangers of nationalism, calling it a betrayal of moral values. He proclaimed that “patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism: nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism”.
Macron declared: “By pursuing our own interests first, with no regard to others’, we erase the very thing that a nation holds most precious, that which gives it life and makes it great: its moral values.”
These words are in stark contrast to President Trump’s “America First”, Britain’s Brexit slogan “Give us back our sovereignty” and Malta’s frequent saying “Malta l-ewwel u qabel kollox” (Malta first and foremost).
It is in this context that we have to think and reflect what place borders, walls and bridges play in our global world today. This tension that is continuously surfacing between sovereignty and nationalism on the one side and globalisation and inclusion on the other, shows how difficult it is to keep a healthy balance between these two positions.
Each country is sovereign and has its own borders that need to be protected and made more secure. Fabrice Leggeri, the executive director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), when commenting in Euractiv (March 5), stated: “Freedom of movement is a right enshrined in the European’s Union area of freedom, security and justice. But it is only by protecting the EU’s external borders that this freedom can continue to exist.” He emphasises that “with a coastline of nearly 66,000 km and land borders of more than 13,000 km, Europe is only as secure as its external borders”.
We need to control who and what crosses our borders but this does not necessarily imply that we have to build walls and fences
There is no doubt that we need to control who and what crosses our borders but this does not necessarily imply that we have to build walls and fences. As Leggeri concludes, “By improving our risk analysis, intelligence sharing and surveillance techniques, we ensure that the needs of people seeking international protection from war or persecution are met, while those who could endanger our security are detected and dealt with appropriately.”
Protecting and safeguarding borders does in no way mean that legal immigrants and asylum seekers should be barred from seeking refuge in one’s country. The displacement of people in search of a better living is part and parcel of our civilisation and the effect of globalisation. Though, in the last decade, due to persecution and war, the number of migrants has increased, this phenomenon is here to stay and we have to learn how to deal with it and not fight against it.
Worth noting is, how, in Vienna, in 2016, a college for young migrants was set up by the council in order to help them integrate in society. Lin Taylor, reporting in The Sunday Times of Malta (April 1), explained how “each week about 1,000 refugees and asylum seekers attend a free, council-run college set up by Vienna’s authorities to help young migrants learn German, get counselling, gain basic education and integrate into society”.
This is the way forward and not creating ghettos where immigrants are left to fend for themselves isolated from the rest of society. The simple fact that a big number of foreigners, be they legal immigrants or asylum seekers, are working and living on our island does not make us cosmopolitan, as the Prime Minister seems to imply. There must be structures and opportunities to help us build this cosmopolitan community based on a shared morality.
We have to learn how to interact with people of other cultures and respect each other’s identity. We have to learn to build bridges instead of walls. Though, physically, no walls or bridges are being erected, we, very often, metaphorically, through the language we use and our attitudes, create walls of hatred and exclusion rather than bridges of acceptance and inclusion.
Pope Francis, on March 12, in an audience with Members of Parliament and politicians of the province of Marseilles, affirmed that “True statecraft is manifest when, in difficult times, we uphold high principles and think of the long-term common good.” He concludes by auguring that “your desire to serve the common good lead you to do everything possible to build bridges between people who find themselves in different social, economic, cultural and religious conditions, as well as between different generations”.
In a pluralistic, secular society like ours, diversity is here to stay. Living peacefully together does not imply trying to bring about uniformity. Through dialogue, interaction, understanding and respecting each other’s culture and tradition we would be able to build those bridges, so much needed, to make our society a really cosmopolitan one.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece