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Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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The New World vs. the Old World (Part 2)
What is the basis of the European xenophobia?Western European societies still consider their nation-states as cornerstones of their civilization. The nation there is a closed community and everyone who wants to integrate from outside has to accept to rules of the game. The first rule is that you never will be equal to someone who is a native citizen. Maybe your children or your grandchildren will be French, but not you. France is more liberal than Germany when it comes to the immigration and naturalization laws. But France is as intolerant as every other European nation when it comes to the rights of immigrants to express a different style of behavior. For example, there were many cases when girls from Moslem families were not allowed to go to school because they wore headcloths.Over the centuries every European nation has developed an idea of what the true French or Spanish or Italian or German must be and every departure from these standards has been considered as a blow to the very concept of the nation-state. The average European, faced with the dilemma of more legal immigration (that means more taxpayers) or higher taxes, s/he will opt for bigger tax burden. Between the two evils, immigration will be considered greater because it washes away the very idea of nation-state in Europe. 60 years ago most of the Europeans when forced to choose between the Holocaust for Jews and the opposition against Hitler opted to stand silent. For them the Jews, considered as foreign elements, were a much bigger evil than the Hitler tyranny itself. The results of European social and cultural reticence are obvious. In the 90s there were no major moves in the real estate markets with the exception of marginal countries (both geographically and politically) like United Kingdom and Ireland, that did not change the whole picture. The population is aging and the depopulation trends are still not seen thanks only to the small number of immigrants that settle in the EU despite the anti-foreigner feelings. The newcomers mainly occupy the worst possible positions that don't allow them to buy even a modest property. Social prejudices don't allow immigrants to move upwards. They are treated not as equals but only as a second-class citizens. Even with a legal work visa they fear that they can be expelled overnight if the laws change. Even if someday their children get citizenship, they still will be considered as foreigners and second-class citizens. Part 3: Shifting cultural dominanace?
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