Olomouc, North Moravia, Jan 7 (CTK) – The migrant wave will burden the budgets of the EU member countries and it will bring zero benefit for their economies in the future, former Czech president Vaclav Klaus, 74, told CTK during his visit to Olomouc yesterday.
There is a surplus of labour force in the EU now, and this is why the idea of migrants taking the less attractive jobs is false, he added.
Klaus (in office 2003-2013) pointed to over 10 percent unemployment in the EU on average, which is about 23 million jobless people in Europe.
Klaus challenged the European Commission´s (EC) prognosis saying the migrant wave will have a positive influence on the EU economy in the future.
Klaus also questioned the argument that migrants can fill the posts in which the EU countries´ inhabitants are not interested.
He is of the view that the migrant wave will primarily mean high costs for the EU countries.
“This is completely clear, even though we can see that the poorest and most miserable people from these countries do not migrate. On the contrary,” he said.
Almost 1.1 million refugees came to Germany last year alone and their number has been constantly rising.
Last autumn, the EU estimated that migration would have a negative impact on the European economy in a short term due to higher public expenditures. The transit countries must spend money on rescue operations, the border protection and short-term urgent aid, while the target countries must invest in accommodation facilities, other support for refugees, their education etc.
However, in the medium- and long-term perspective, if the right policy is applied, the migrant crisis may have a slightly positive effect, according to the EC.
The target countries will more profit from the arrival of new people in their labour markets. In 2020, the current migrant wave should support the economic growth by 0.2-0.3 percent of GDP on average in Europe, the EC says.
However, the direct economic aspect of the migrant wave is just a secondary thing, Klaus noted. The fundamental problem is that migration will harm European culture, civilisation and lifestyle, he added.
Asked about his view of German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying on Tuesday Germany would like to lower the number of refugees flowing there, Klaus said European politicians often behave in a confused way – first they welcome migrants and then they change their mind.
“This proves both irresponsibility and shortsightedness of a number of European politicians. I suppose that this is completely unacceptable,” Klaus pointed out.
