Blushing

 Now, more EU countries are introducing temporary border controls. After Italy and Germany, France has followed, and by December 2024, the Netherlands will also be among the EU countries implementing temporary controls. I see these temporary border controls as a reasonable response to current issues—especially due to the ongoing war, which increases the risk of tensions and potential threats from individuals who may attempt to destabilize Western European countries through attacks. However, I don’t see these temporary controls as a real solution to the underlying reasons they exist. For example, there are internal EU issues that are not publicly acknowledged, even though they are being used (or have been used) as part of broader, possibly politically motivated strategies—especially in Central European countries. These controls may, unofficially, also be related to such internal tensions. Take the post-COVID period, for example. When the pandemic was ending, and the economic strategies linked to COVID seemed to be failing, there appeared to be efforts to further suppress the economies of some Central European countries. This continued for months in 2021—before the war started in early 2022. In many ways, it all feels like part of a plan that negatively affects Western Europe as well. Even though there are no official statements about the problems in more eastern EU countries, I believe that people in Western Europe are aware of them. For example, I can’t ignore the fact that Western Europeans seemed to understand or react to the problems I experienced in an Eastern EU country. Their responses—especially from proper Western Europe—were interesting, as they showed more awareness of the situation than I had realized. In fact, I witnessed more empathy and concern from UK drum and bass artists, comments from a UK girl, and reactions from everyday people in Germany. Those moments made me realize that the problems I was facing were probably worse than I thought. Even my own perception may have been wrong. The events of 2023 made that clear—not just to me, but to others as well—as things deteriorated in Europe due to oppressive and toxic individuals. I believe that if there are no official efforts to address internal EU issues, then temporary border controls are not a real solution. I do believe that the EU is trying to fix things, but something is still not working. And yes—there are still no official statements. Some people say these temporary controls go against the idea of the EU. But it’s worth noting that in some EU countries where border controls are not being implemented, there is a higher level of anti-EU sentiment than in the countries that have introduced them. In some of these anti-EU countries, you can also see a clear lean toward socialism or ideologies similar to what Putin may want to spread across Europe. You could argue that a majority of UK citizens now believe Brexit was a failure. The statistics about how people in the UK feel the economic impact of Brexit are quite striking—the feeling of rising prices in everyday shopping is just one example. If we ignore internal EU issues for a moment and talk instead about issues related to non-EU migrants, then yes—the EU seems to be failing at managing its external borders effectively. There should be a better control system for EU external borders. But the reality is, there’s a war going on, and everything is getting worse—perhaps more so than any potential improvements from stronger EU border controls. A lot of people now say that it all looks like a coordinated effort against the EU. But I don’t believe it’s really about being against the EU. There are real issues that can be temporarily managed with short-term solutions—but these temporary measures are not addressing the root causes of the problems they’re meant to handle