After the New Year, Britain, like many EU countries, began anxiously awaiting an influx of Bulgarians and Romanians, for whom entry is now unrestricted. Representatives of parliament and government agencies personally met the first arrivals at the airport. However, it turned out that the half-empty planes only carried foreigners already living in Britain who had flown home for the holidays. Many of them told the gathered press that they work and do not receive benefits.
Nevertheless, Britain expects that the flow from both countries will surge already at the beginning of the year. In this regard, it plans to adopt a number of restrictions on the provision of free healthcare and various social benefits. The leader of the opposition marginal United Kingdom Independence Party, Nigel Farage, even called for suspending all benefits to immigrants until they have lived in Britain for at least five years. Representatives of major parties expressed their concerns in a more decent form.
All this provoked a sharp reaction from Brussels. Thus, Vice-President of the European Commission Viviane Reding stated that myths about an invasion of foreigners are created by politicians who want to get votes in elections. She emphasized that the country's economic growth of 3-4% was achieved precisely thanks to newcomers. 'In fact, you are destroying the future of your own people. That's what I'm worried about,' Reding said.
European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor expressed hope that people will trust facts more, given that an invasion of new immigrants has not yet occurred. Andor hopes that Britons will become less 'hysterical' and that politicians will no longer find it so easy to manipulate them.
According to a recent poll, even those Britons who are confident that immigration benefits the country's economy and culture want it to be reduced. Thus, 56% said that the flow of foreigners should be sharply limited, 21% — only 'slightly'. According to the latest calculations, the government will definitely not be able to reduce the number of new immigrants to less than 100,000 per year — the figure that the country's Prime Minister David Cameron stated during the election.
Kira Savchenko,
"Russkaya Germaniya".