The European Union only has itself to blame for the migrant crisis plaguing the continent, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin who blames EU policies, including “large social benefits and other bonuses” including cash payments, for the endless flow of migrants flocking to Europe.
According to Putin, the migrant crisis will not end until the EU addresses the issue and reviews its policies towards migrants, which effectively “encourage” non-Europeans to attempt to enter Europe illegally and receive the “large social benefits” on offer, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
Following talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Moscow, Putin said unless the EU addresses the migrant crisis in an honest, robust fashion, the crisis will only get worse.
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“If one encourages migration with large social benefits and other bonuses, why should this flow ever stop?” the Russian president said. “Yet it’s up to our colleagues in Europe to decide for themselves what is better for Europe and Europeans.”
The flow of migrants flocking to the EU remains steady, although the migrants’ countries of origin appear to change as the time passes. “At first, it was people from Syria, from Iraq, from other countries of the Middle East. Now, it’s Sub-Saharan Africa,” Putin said.
Russia is also facing migration challenges, but these are very different to the migrant crisis afflicting Europe, according to Putin.
The majority of migrants that enter Russia are from post-Soviet states and share a similar culture. Many of these people speak the Russian language, and are easier to integrate into Russian society, the president added.
Europe, in its turn, faces an inflow of people from entirely different cultures, including those with Islamic beliefs, which makes their integration into European culture a “very complex” process that often fails.
“Such problems must be solved within the European Union itself,” he added.
According to Putin, the EU should stop luring migrants to Europe with large social benefit payments and cash bonuses. This tactic, more than any other, will drastically reduce the number of migrant arrivals. In turn, European culture will be preserved and the humanitarian disaster the migrant crisis represents will be eased.
Sometimes the most complex problems can be solved with the simplest of solutions. Is Putin right about the migrant crisis?
