The Game is Getting Tougher

Mass immigration to the European Union has taken on a new dimension at the border between Greece and Turkey. The Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle reported that a Greek border guard was hit by a bullet fired from the Turkish side. The shooter is suspected to be a smuggler profiting from people from developing countries.

It is absolutely clear that shooting at border guards cannot be tolerated at any level, whether done by a smuggler or those being smuggled. Nor is it in line with any human rights agreements.

It remains to be seen how the EU will react to this incident. Will it be ignored, as are other crimes (example) committed by immigrants in Union territories, or will the mass migration from developing countries finally be treated as a serious threat to the whole of European culture?

Russians, on the other hand, have realized that fighting in Ukraine is not without risks to the home front. According to a Meduza news story, those returning from the war have committed various crimes. This is especially true for those who have previously engaged in criminal activity and joined the army as volunteers to escape prison.

According to the report, the Kremlin even believes that returning soldiers from Ukraine pose the greatest political and social risk factor during Vladimir Putin's reign. Of course, it would be great if this ultimately led to the fall of the aforementioned dictator and Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine.

However, I doubt that the Russians are capable of rising against Putin's regime. After all, they have become accustomed over hundreds of years to their leaders not caring about the well-being of the people, but only about enhancing their own reputation and wealth.

Despite everything, the news mentioned above indicates that the situation is intensifying regarding both immigration from developing countries to Europe and Russia's so-called special operation. It remains to be seen what impact this will have on the future of our continent.

This issue is also of great significance for Finland, as it is, like Ukraine, a neighbor of Russia, and Vladimir Putin has conducted hybrid operations against it using people from developing countries as weapons. In the best-case scenario, Russians will be frightened by the consequences of their war on the home front and will end all hybrid operations on Finland's borders.

On the other hand, it is also possible that instead of using reason, Russians might apply the criminal activities seen at the Greek-Turkish border, endangering the safety of Finnish border guards. This too must be anticipated in the training of border guards.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Defending National Security: Finland's Response to Hybrid Warfare
Russian Tax Overhaul: Citizens to Bear the Burden of War Losses
Mass immigration is the greatest concern for EU youth

Mass immigration is the greatest concern for EU youth

Finnish political media reported that a survey conducted in March revealed that the greatest concern among European youth is the mass migration directed towards our continent. This is considered the biggest worry by 36 percent of the 5,874 German, French, Polish, Greek, Spanish, and Italian youths aged 16-26 who responded to the survey.

The concern over mass immigration is particularly high in Germany, where it is the biggest worry for half of the survey respondents. The restriction of immigration, on the other hand, was most supported by Polish and Greek youths.

Although the survey included many other questions, I highlight only immigration here. This is because it shows that the planned tightening of asylum policies by Finland's current government aligns with the views of the continent's youth.

This is a good thing in itself, but it also shows that the ideologies of young people continue to change from generation to generation, just like other fashions. The key point here is to understand that the prevailing fear of the future will - for the next ten years only - guide population policy in the same way that the previous generation's fear of climate change and its consequences has shaped political actions in recent years.

On this basis, the demographic future of the European Union - and consequently its societal development - looks somewhat brighter than before. In the best case, the youth's concern, combined with the weakening dependency ratio, may even lead to a long-term increase in the currently low birth rate.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
A woman's logic, Putin's test, and the Netherlands' change
The Finns rewarded a mass murder with 213,000 euros
Getting asylum in Finland becomes significantly more difficult

Eva Kaili, unsurprisingly a Greek socialist

Greek Socialist MEP Eva Kaili, one of the vice-presidents of the European Parliament, is suspected for corruption and money laundering involving "a Gulf country". As a consequence, the Greek socialist party PASOK announced on Friday evening that she was expelled from its membership.

We do not know yet, whether MEP Kaili was corrupted or criminal, but I just want to remind about three things. 

First: she is a socialist. That is, she believes in a political theory that has never produced a decent society. In contrast, socialistic countries have always been known for their dual moral including corruption among the leaders of the system. 

Second: she is a Greek. That is unfortunate, because it reminds us that the problems in Greece a decade ago emerged from irresponsible economic leadership of the country. And that we - other Europeans - are still paying for the costs. 

Third: Greece was accepted as a member of the European Monetary Union despite it did not fulfill the criteria set. 

Taken the items pointed out above, I was not surprised to hear that a European Parliament vice-president suspected for corruption "happened to be" a Greek socialist. Not saying, however, that all other MEP´s would be incorrupted with 100 percent certainty.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:

Fair policy will build a strong Union
Share of EU recovery funds will turn attitudes more negative
The Center and the National Coalition Party are willing to donate our tax money to the EU

The Center and the National Coalition Party are willing to donate our tax money to the EU

European Stability Mechamism ESM founded in summer 2012 is part of the EU strategy designed to safeguard financial stability in the euro area. It is based on an idea that financial support will be given to member countries experiencing or threatened by financing difficulties.

ESM brought back memories from the era, when Greece was in acute crisis and also Finnish taxpayers money was dispersed to Greeks with no sorrow. Recently we were told that the main parties of our government - the National Coalition Party and the Center Party - are willing to outsource the use of this money to the qualified majority of EU countries. In other words, to give away even our theoretical possibility to control the use of Finnish taxpayers money.

I wrote (in Finnish) about this topic already in year 2011, when ESM was only under planning. I noted then that such a decision would be against the constitutional law of Finland, as the constitutional Law committee of the parliament had announced. This should be taken seriously also by the current politicians in the National coalition party and the Center party.

In practice this means the leaders of these two parties, Petteri Orpo and Juha Sipilä, will need support from two thirds of the members of the parliament to get their view accepted. Therefore it is important that the citizens of Finland will be awake during the elections of the parliaments of Finland and the European Union next spring: a vote to an incorrect party would give an open mandate to EU for the use of our common wallet - including cases which are against our own will.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
World Resources Institute had an arrogant demand

The original thought in Finnish:
Keskusta ja Kokoomus lahjoittaisivat verorahamme EU:n käytettäväksi