transform! europe and the Czech "Society for European Dialogue" (SPED) organised a workshop in Prague on the leftist, Central European perspective on the topic of migration and refugees.
The workshop "Political consequences of migration from the leftist perspective – Central Europe" took place on 30 November 2015 in Prague.
Since there seems to clearly be a big diversity of opinions on migration (its causes, approaches to the the topic or possible ways how to deal with the situation) across Europe and especially between western and eastern countries, the one-day workshop aimed at creating a space for open discussion of different stakeholders and political players from central Europe.
The transform! Policy Advice Paper "A left-wing response to the asylum crisis and migration policy points" was used as a basis for discussion and we tried to also frame the discussion around some of these points:
- The reasons behind migration and the fight against war
- The reasons for the fear of migrants (refugees): This was about media perception and the way language is used when reporting news on migration.
- The positives and negatives of the concept of “cultural” and “multi-cultural society” and experiences with it
- Security and minimum social standards in the EU, as well as perceptions of democracy and the concept of integration.
- The impact of the economic dimension for the future of the EU (Germany being cited as the prime example).
- Left perspectives on the situation of migrants/refugees, where we asked what could be Left movement solutions and how to fight the “solutions” from the extreme-right.
Various speakers from across central Europe were invited to share their opinions on this specific topic. Among them were Attila Melegh (HU), František Škvrnda (SK), Piotr Ikonowicz (PL), Anja Klotzbüchner (DE), Marika Tändler-Walenta (DE), Jiří Málek (CZ), Gregory Mauzé (BE) and Walter Baier (AT).
Also participating were representatives of KSČM (an MP, an ex-MEP and an employee of the head quarters of the Communist party of CZ), Haló noviny (a Czech Leftist Newspaper), SDS (the Leftist Political Party, CZ), transform! Hungary, Iniciativa NE základnám (CZ), Die Linke (DE), Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Brussels and Warsaw, Svaz Vietnamců ČR (Vietnamese Union of the Czech Republic), SPED (CZ).
tranform! europe was represented not only by Jiří Málek from SPED but also by Walter Baier, the coordinator of the transform! network.
Find speakers’ short CVs, abstracts and interventions on the right (will be completed soon).