Europe's Immigration Debate Heats Up

As the number of asylum-seekers in Europe grows and countries on the edge of the European Union demand assistance from their neighbors, the debate on refugees — and immigrants in general — continues to intensify in Europe. The different interests among member states will prevent the European Union from radically changing its asylum policy. The bloc likely would rather offer more monetary assistance to countries such as Spain, Italy and Bulgaria to help them cope with the logistical and financial problems related to the rise in asylum-seekers. In the coming months and years, European countries will increase their external controls, but also tolerate or even encourage refugees to go to other parts of the Continent. This behavior will threaten the survival of the Schengen agreement, which eliminates border controls in most parts of Europe.