site.btaRefugee Crisis Test for True European Leadership - Expert

Refugee Crisis Test for True European Leadership - Expert

Sofia, August 28 (BTA) - The refugee crisis is a test for true
European leadership, political scientist Anna Krusteva told BTA
in an interview. She is head of New Bulgarian University's
Centre for European Refugee, Migration and Ethnic Studies.

The only country which currently demonstrates clear leadership
is Germany, she says, explaining that Mekel stood bravely in
front of the booing neo-Nazis and firmly stated that the
solution does not lie within hatred, but within efficient
policies.

The current refugee crisis is the biggest Europe has seen since
WWII, and poses a huge challenge for the governments and
peoples, she noted. Krusteva summarizes the tendencies as
follows - crises becoming more frequent and of larger
proportions, states with no experience with refugee integration
becoming transit and even host countries.

The saddest paradox is that today's refugees completely are a
classical example of people fleeing war, violence, persecution,
the political scientist notes. Krusteva recalls that economic
immigrants took advantage of the refugee status when times were
calmer. The current situation is radically different. The number
 of victims in the Mediterranean exceeds 2,000 people for just
the first half of 2015. They are fleeing death and finding
death. There is not a more categorical and tragic proof that the
 refugees have no way back. The 20th century was considered the
century of refugees, however, the 21st century might claim this
title, Krusteva notes.

Bulgaria also set its own records in the refugees category -
350,000 Bulgarian Turks were expelled in 1989, becoming the
largest displaced population in Europe since the end of WWII.
This record was later claimed by the Western Balkans, where wars
 and ethnic cleansing displaced some ten million people.

Bulgaria is a transit country for most refugees, with the
exception of those who seek to settle in this country
permanently. The majority want to immediately leave for Germany,
 Sweden, the Netherlands, Krusteva comments. "We Bulgarians are
proud that although poor, we have given asylum to the Armenians,
 to the Whites escaping the Bolsheviks, that we have saved the
Jews. I would like to believe that our children and
grand-children will be proud of the way we are meeting the
Syrian refugees today," Krusteva says.