Europe on the verge of collapse: Soros
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| Soros |
Billionaire financier George Soros has warned that the
European Union is on the "verge of collapse" over the migrant crisis
and is in "danger of kicking the ball further up the hill" in its
management of the issue which has seen more than a million migrants and
refugees arrive in the region in 2015.
Merkel led Europe's response to the migrant crisis, opening
Germany to the refugees that had travelled from the Middle East, in particular
Syria, to try and find a new home in Europe. The decision by the German leader
marked a sea-change in her policy. In the interview, Soros said he welcomed
Merkel's move.
"There is plenty to be nervous about," the
financier said.
"As she (Merkel) correctly predicted, the EU is on the
verge of collapse. The Greek crisis taught the European authorities the art of
muddling through one crisis after another. This practice is popularly known as
kicking the can down the road, although it would be more accurate to describe
it as kicking a ball uphill so that it keeps rolling back down."
"Merkel correctly foresaw the potential of the
migration crisis to destroy the European Union. What was a prediction has
become the reality. The European Union badly needs fixing. This is a fact but
it is not irreversible. And the people who can stop Merkel's dire prediction
from coming true are actually the German people. "
"Now it's time for Germans to decide: Do they want to
accept the responsibilities and the liabilities involved in being the dominant
power in Europe?"
Soros' comments come as Finland's Finance Minister, Alex
Stubb, told CNBC that Germany's open policy on migrants was, "humane, that
was probably the right thing to do at the time but the key issue here is that
one of the fundamental freedoms of the European Union is under threat and that
is the free movement of people and the whole Schengen agreement."
"On top of that, we've had a Euro crisis which is about
free movement of money so two of the core pillars of European integration are
under threat right now," said Stubb, to CNBC in Davos.
In his interview Wednesday, Stubb denied the idea that the
Schengen zone, which allows the free passage of EU citizens through almost all
of its members, is a security threat to Europe.
"We shouldn't draw parallels between [the] refugee
crisis and terrorism. The roots of terrorism are much, much deeper than
that."
"What we need to watch out for is radicalization. What
does this mean? It means we need to get these people to work, we need to give
these people employment, we need to give them hope, we need to integrate them
into our societies, they need to learn our languages," said the Finance
Minister, to CNBC.
Stubb, known for his fiscally hardliner views, explained to
CNBC why he wants to improve competitiveness in Finland.
"We basically need to do what Germany did in the late
1990s, early 2000s. We need to take some hard reforms; basically, I'm looking
at a positive circle or a virtuous circle of the economy, that means number
one, we become more competitive, number two, we get more exports, number three,
we get more jobs, number four, we get more taxes, which I like as finance
minister, and then number five, in order to finance our welfare state, we use
those taxes."
Stubb also shared his thoughts on the UK referendum vote.
"I think it would be a great travesty both for the UK,
economically, politically and otherwise, and a travesty for the European Union
if there was a divorce," he said to CNBC.
Correction: The section is article has been corrected to
show that the minister is not looking for a 15 percent cut in salaries.
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