Europe's humanity and hypocrisy

The crisis of refugees entering Europe in the past few weeks represents a real test to the modernist values that have governed the old continent since the Enlightenment of the 17th century.

The crisis also reveals that some European countries such as Hungary still hold a medieval mentality.

Hungary's actions towards refugees, which will remain a black mark against its history, is more than fear of migrants over economic and security concerns - but is pure, outright hatred and xenophobia.

The position of a large segment of the Hungarian people who treated the refugees with contempt and extremism was also very disappointing

We have witnessed how Hungarian authorities have treated refugees and migrants, from condemning them to dragging and arresting them in their thousands - not to mention that racist statement of Hungarian Prime Mnister Victor Orban.

Orban's statements not only demeaned refugees but incited religious hatred when saying they threatened "the Christianity of Europe" - as if Europe were still living through the age of the Crusades.

The position of a large number of the Hungarian people who treated the refugees with contempt and violence was also very disappointing - especially the camera operator who tripped a Syrian man carrying his child while running away from police.

However, if we were to compare how the Hungarian government and people dealt with the refugees with the treatment of countries such as Germany and Austria, we would find ourself in front of two very different pictures of Europe.

One picture is uncivilised and medieval while the other is modern and humane.

The actions of many Austrians and Germans - who pressured their governments and came out in protests calling for more refugees to be admitted - was some consolation for the hardships faced by refugees after their perilous journey into Europe.

Under pressure from their own populations and progressive parties, countries such as Britain and France were forced to agree to receive thousands of refugees, without which we might have seen similar scenes to those we witnessed in Hungary.

The refugee crisis also revealed that the Syrian crisis now poses a threat to the West and its societies, after the West failed to put an end to the massacres and crimes committed by the Assad regime against Syrians.

It is obvious that the longer the Syrian conflict rages on, the more Syrian refugees will arrive in Europe

Perhaps this is what pushed Austria to rally the international community on the importance of stopping the war in Syria.

It is obvious that the longer the Syrian conflict rages on, the more Syrian refugees will arrive in Europe - which is not something that will be tolerated by Europeans for long, especially as the right-wing parties have already started applying pressure to end the admission of refugees.

Ironically, however, some western countries still do not recognise the new reality. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo has, for example, called for negotiations with Bashar al-Assad, as if he does not see the enormity of the crisis created by Assad remaining in power.

Furthermore, there hasn't been any public European pressure on Russia to change its position towards Assad, or any reaction to the news of Russian military support for Assad.

In other words, Europe has not moved to stop Russian support for the Syrian regime, despite knowing the consequences of this support.

Meanwhile, with the continuous arrival of refugees and migrants to European shores and borders, the conflict between values and interests will continue to be a major sight on the European political scene - for decades to come.

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of al-Araby al Jadeed, its editorial board or staff.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.