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Humanity

Yeah, and I'm sure the viewpoint in Hungary is distinctly different than that from here - and the finger pointing between European states hasn't helped this situation at all. Some common ground has to be found. There definitely also is a factor that the current Hungarian government has been viewed very dimly here in Austria (and definitely here in Vienna) since they came into power, and this is another issue for the press and public here to blast them. It's really hard for me to state just how much the majority of Austrians dislike the Hungarian government (which is viewed as basically thinly veiled fascism depending on who you talk to) ... this last few weeks has not helped for sure. Austrian / Hungarian relations are probably at their lowest point in decades right now.

That being said (and more pertinent to the thread), today just seems weird here - after the flood over the weekend and on Monday, and with volunteer organizations up and ready to go (to the point they aren't accepting donations anymore due to inability to store them) ... there's nobody coming now. Closing transit routes into Austria (and Austrian Police intercepting smugglers at the border and diverting them in a trickle to Traiskirchen) has led to a situation where Viennese are all waiting all of a sudden to try and help, but the people who need help are a few hundred km away in another country stuck in EU wrangling. It's a titanic mess.

We'll see if the EU meeting on September 14th is going to solve anything. Somehow I doubt it. I hope we're not looking at a situation where winter is coming and a bunch of people are camped out under cardboard boxes in central Budapest, that's for sure.
 
How centralized is the organization of volunteer efforts? And by whom?
 
Vad, before you start to take too seriously the large doses of nonsense that are typical of the German press writing about Hungary, you ought to look over this more academic study - done by the German Council on Foreign Relations, that is, by the Germans themselves - on the reporting being carried out in the German language media about Hungary. The German press appears to be engaged in a campaign of disinformation and distortions about Hungary and its current government. Unfortunately, the English language media has not been much better. If ever there was a moment for remembering the famous adage, "don't believe everything you read in the papers" it is when you read about the current Hungarian government in the German language, and unfortunately English as well, press. Indeed, you would do well to believe hardly any of it.

If it's any consolation, the Austrian habit of blaming Hungary is quite old and well established. By now it might even be reflexive. You shouldn't take that too seriously either.

Find the link to the study below.

https://dgap.org/en/think-tank/publications/dgapreport/hungary-media-2010-2014
 
Talking about this on Diane Rehm. One of the panelists is in Hungary, probably Hungarian.
 
Yeah. He's off the show now. He's a reporter for FT based in Hungary.
 
sailordeac said:
Vad, before you start to take too seriously the large doses of nonsense that are typical of the German press writing about Hungary, you ought to look over this more academic study - done by the German Council on Foreign Relations, that is, by the Germans themselves - on the reporting being carried out in the German language media about Hungary. The German press appears to be engaged in a campaign of disinformation and distortions about Hungary and its current government. Unfortunately, the English language media has not been much better. If ever there was a moment for remembering the famous adage, "don't believe everything you read in the papers" it is when you read about the current Hungarian government in the German language, and unfortunately English as well, press. Indeed, you would do well to believe hardly any of it.

If it's any consolation, the Austrian habit of blaming Hungary is quite old and well established. By now it might even be reflexive. You shouldn't take that too seriously either.

Find the link to the study below.

https://dgap.org/en/think-tank/publications/dgapreport/hungary-media-2010-2014
Click to expand...

Yeah, and I guess I wasn't really trying to dive into the fractious and awkward relationship between Austria and Hungary in this thread - and hell, I barely understand it and I read local newspapers and commentary regularly. It's definitely one of the billion factors affecting what is going on at the moment though, so just worth noting from the experience of being in Austria while this is going on.
 
BiffTannen said:
What did Abraham Lincoln do when the Irish flooded the shores of the US ? Grant immediate citizenship and draft them into the army to go fight in the south.

Maybe the EU should draft them and send them to Syria to fight ISIS ? Or the Ukraine.
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All kidding aside, Is that a realistic option? It seems a lot of European countries have low birth rates and for long term economic health could use an infusion of migrants. I am sure the scale of this is close to impossible to handle. Would creating an army give the immigrants an opportunity to earn citizenship in a new country while at the same time helping to destroy part of the reason the problem exist to begin with. It would also allow a way to integrate the immigrants into society at a slower rate as they are brought back from their term of service. Is this just too crazy or inhumane or is this a real solution?
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
How centralized is the organization of volunteer efforts? And by whom?
Click to expand...

At least in Austria, it appears that Caritas (the charity arm of the Catholic Church) has taken over the organization of volunteers and has interfaced with the various public agencies. They are also hosting 1,000+ people in church owned facilities in the greater Vienna area.
 
knowell said:
All kidding aside, Is that a realistic option? It seems a lot of European countries have low birth rates and for long term economic health could use an infusion of migrants. I am sure the scale of this is close to impossible to handle. Would creating an army give the immigrants an opportunity to earn citizenship in a new country while at the same time helping to destroy part of the reason the problem exist to begin with. It would also allow a way to integrate the immigrants into society at a slower rate as they are brought back from their term of service. Is this just too crazy or inhumane or is this a real solution?
Click to expand...

Austria is neutralized by it's constitution (if Austria breaks it's neutral status, the US, UK or Russia can dissolve the country - Switzerland is neutral, Austria is neutralized) - there's a small self defense force but any increasing in the size of the military here would be basically impossible.
 
vadimivich said:
Austria is neutralized by it's constitution (if Austria breaks it's neutral status, the US, UK or Russia can dissolve the country - Switzerland is neutral, Austria is neutralized) - there's a small self defense force but any increasing in the size of the military here would be basically impossible.
Click to expand...

Give Austria back to the kangaroos !
 
Germany used to have mandatory military service, but they recently ended that. Most EU countries have huge hurdles for even long-term guest workers becoming citizens. Imagine what kind of refugee shit storm would have ensued if a couple of EU countries had invaded a South or Central Anerican country.
 
CN6Wf3uWUAA-S23.jpg


This photo says it all.
 
I hate to say this and sound so cynical, but often times I wonder if the only thing that really separates humans from animals is the capacity for evil.
 
That photo makes me want to cry and I'm a grown man. It is just heartbreaking when little kids suffer. I was talking about this with the wife tonight. I can't figure out why some of these people, especially the ones with families, are taking such huge risks to relocate. I get that they cannot stay where they are, but why, for example, wouldn't a Syrian take his chances in Turkey or in a neighboring, relatively safe country instead of trying to cross the Mediterranean on a life raft? Maybe it's a stupid question or maybe there's an obvious answer, but some of the deaths seem so preventable and pointless.
 
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