In recent months, Europe has been plagued with extreme issues ranging from terrorist attacks, instability in Spain over an independence referendum to decide if Catalan would remain as a part of the country, and Eastern European nations such as Poland shutting down their borders as a counter measure to possible ISIS militants entering their country. Amidst all the chaos, governments and institutions of Europe like the EU have used this disorganization to pass inhumane and unjust legislation in the name of defense.
For example, France’s lower house of parliament passed legislation on Oct. 4 which, according to the BBC, “includes easier searches of homes and confining individuals to their home towns, without judicial approval.” And though with the bill France is expected to lower its state of emergency, Interior Minister Gérard Collomb told parliament that “[France is] still in a state of war.” With the constant threat of terror attacks to the point where armed soldiers stand guard around Paris and outside of its main landmarks, the presence of a potential threat is always felt.
The massive influx of military strength and anti-terror legislation began after the 2015 shooting and bombing at the Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan theatre in Paris by terrorists representing the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. There was also the attack on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters which has left France scarred since, thus giving far right-wing nationalist groups platforms to run off and turn France into a police state void of individual liberties and freedoms in exchange for “security,” rather than dealing with the cause of the problem, like radicalization and the undetected travel of ISIS extremists into Europe.
Alternatively, the Spanish government has cracked down on a Catalonian referendum to decide whether the province could claim independence from Spain. Due to this demonstration, Spain responded by using rubber bullets and unnecessary force on unarmed citizens and voters, physically removing Catalonians from voting booths and seizing ballot boxes. The crackdown has been justified by the 1978 Spanish constitution which calls for the “indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation.” As a result, the current Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has taken it into his own authority and will use any means necessary to destroy the Catalonian independence movement, going as far as to imprison Catalonian political leaders and raiding offices.
If I did not know better I would say that these actions are more akin to those of Francisco Franco, the nationalist dictator who ruled over Spain for 40 years in the mid to late 20th century, who was famous for locking up his political opposition and meeting any criticism with brutal force.
Considering Spain has suffered in recent years with allowing its people to exercise their right to free speech, which is expected in a western civilization, this downward spiral of government authoritarianism only spells out future problems facing the Spanish people in the pursuit of a free and just society.
Finally, Italy, a nation who is struggling to grapple with the sheer amount of asylum seekers and refugees from Africa and the Middle East, has been neglecting to make solid strides toward fixing the issue of people boating across the Mediterranean Sea.
Aside from putting out additional coast patrols and attempting to provide some sort of aid to those coming over, they have done little to stop the problem from happening in the first place.
Granted, it’s impossible to stop them from coming in after they have crossed the ocean, however many of the ships leaving from the war-torn countries don’t actually make it to their destinations and, rather than attempting to set up measures to prevent them from coming over, Italy stays relatively passive in its actions.