One of Hungary's Parliamentary State Secretaries said Europe would be the best place in the world today, but it is struggling with an identity crisis.
Csaba Dömötör spoke about Europe’s identity crisis in Tusnádfürdő, at a stage discussion on the future of Europe held on Wednesday at the Bálványos Summer Open University and Student Camp (Tusványos).
Dömötör said the crisis is boosted by a decline in birth rates and cultural self-surrender. In his view, it has been brought to the surface by the issue of migration, and it has been aggravated by the fact that it is difficult to conduct a meaningful dialogue about immigration due to the expectations of political correctness.
The state secretary took the view that it also indicates Europe’s uncertainty regarding its identity that the continent is leaving its gates open to immigrants.
He said that Frontex data proves that since 2009 – in addition to legal immigrants and people applying for family reunification – some 3.5 million illegal immigrants have entered Europe, and they have caused a change in internal population percentages.
He also pointed out that the Pew Research Center speculated that the Muslim population in Europe could triple by 2050. Dömötör believes that it is a consequence of large-scale immigration that in Europe, instead of multiculturalism, parallel societies and no-go areas have developed which are no longer under the control of the state authorities.
He said seventy percent of European citizens find immigration concerning, and therefore it is to be expected that it will be in the centre of attention at next year’s European parliamentary elections as well.