Trump’s Immigration Remarks Outrage Many, but Others Quietly Agree
Several European heads of government were proudly xenophobic in their responses to a refugee crisis in 2015, when more than one million asylum seekers arrived by boat on European shores, prompting a surge in support for far-right parties
and nativist rhetoric — particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.
The consequences include increased mistrust and policies aimed more at stopping than facilitating human movement.”
Mr. Knaus, of the European Stability Initiative, was one of several commentators who expressed fear
that Mr. Trump would only embolden xenophobic rhetoric.
“What we see now is a conscious policy to reintroduce language
that was previously not acceptable in debate,” said Gerald Knaus, the director of the European Stability Initiative, a Berlin-based research organization that has played a leading role in forming recent European migration policy.
“In every Austrian and German village, they follow what the U. S. president is doing.”
In Western Europe, heads of government have sometimes described migrants in terms of floods and hordes —
but the most abusive language has usually been restricted to far-right opposition politicians like Marine Le Pen in France and Geert Wilders in Holland.
“There’s a denial among many European leaders that they’re anything like Trump — while they promote measures
that will have the same impact” as Mr. Trump’s restrictions, she said.