Η συμπεριφορά των ευρωπαίων όσον αφορά στους μετανάστες

ATTITUDES to immigration vary widely in Europe and America. According to a study of seven countries published by the German Marshall Fund, Italians are the most suspicious of migrants, with almost 70% of respondents to an opinion poll saying that the majority of those in their country are there illegally. At the other end of the scale, most Germans and Dutch thought that immigrants were there legally. However, when asked if immigration was a problem or an opportunity, more Germans saw as it as a problem (as did a big majority of Americans and Britons). In troubled economic times hostility to migrants may grow.

AFP

Source: Economist.com

Kαι τώρα μετά από αυτό ας δούμε πως κάποιοι έχουν ήδη επενδύσει σ' αυτό το κλίμα (ή και στην "αντιστροφή" του)....!

The Greens in Germany

Cem difference

Nov 20th 2008 | BERLIN
From The Economist print edition

Germany’s first party leader from an ethnic minority

APA Turk at the top

CEM OZDEMIR has picked a good moment to be elected co-chairman of Germany’s Green Party. All of Europe is on the hunt for a European Barack Obama. As the first Turkish-origin leader of a big party in Germany, Mr Ozdemir is the country’s top contender. It does not hurt the comparison that he is thin, good-looking, charismatic and devoted to his family (wife and daughter).

Like the American version, he tries to transcend ethnicity, but in a different way. Mr Obama hoped that the historical significance of his election would work in his favour. Mr Ozdemir (who, as a Green, is unlikely ever to rise higher than foreign minister) seems eager to play down ethnicity altogether. “Is it so important to have a Turkish chancellor?” he wonders. “The fact that we’re still talking about this shows how far there is to go.” He blames both native Germans and immigrants. Germans must become comfortable with the “hyphenated identities” of some of their fellow citizens; immigrants and their children must accept that “this is not enemy territory.” The first words he heard were in the Swabian dialect of Baden-Württemberg.

Mr Ozdemir, who is 43, would rather dwell on his youth. He decided to run for the party chairmanship after reading a newspaper headline claiming that the young shun responsibility. He wanted to show that a political high-flyer can have a normal family life. “Most of the old battles were not my battles,” he says. That makes it easier to contemplate the exotic coalitions that may be necessary if the Greens are to return to power in what is now a five-party system. Potential partners range from the ex-communist Left Party to the Christian Democratic Union, the Greens’ partner in the city-state of Hamburg. What matters is a coalition “with as much Green handwriting as possible,” meaning one that defends civil liberties and social justice, and also fights climate change and nuclear power.

The Greens have two of everything, including candidates for chancellor, chairmen (Claudia Roth is the other) and political wings (left and realists). The rowdy left, which opposes the army’s deployment in Afghanistan and likes to block the transport of nuclear waste, seems in the ascendant. Mr Ozdemir, a realist, was denied a spot on the party’s electoral list in Baden-Württemberg. “The worst thing that could happen is we would get boring,” he says. His rise to the top makes that less likely.

Source: Economist