PARTICULARITIES OF THE EUROPEAN CRISIS

Europe is getting increasingly more swept into the vortex of processes and developments that may have an unprecedented impact on the fate of one of the greatest civilizations in human history. The incessant debt crisis in several European countries, the aggravation of social conflicts and a consequent increase in contradictions between rightist and leftist political forces and, finally, the influx of migrants from war-ridden countries in Asia and Africa to the continent are all challenges that make nations and elites in Europe face with the question of whether it will survival strategically as a unique cultural and civilizational phenomenon.

Is Portugal making a left turn?

In particular, recent developments in Portugal were a reflection of growing political-economic and socio-humanitarian instability in Europe. Experts had long juxtaposed this Pyrenean country with Greece which suffered a financial collapse. They cited Portugal as an example of a successful policy in line with standards set by leading Western lenders. However, although the ruling coalition Portugal Ahead did win a parliamentary election held in early October, it failed to get the absolute majority needed to form a government. However, the leftists - the Socialist Party, the Left Bloc and the Communists - got the majority. These forces received more than 120 seats in the 230-seat parliament and expressed their intention to form their own cabinet.

However, Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva, under obvious pressure from the European Union, tasked the head of the previous centre-right cabinet, Pedro Passos Coelho, with forming a government. Brussels is not hiding its discontent at the prospect of Eurosceptic forces coming into power in Portugal. Meanwhile, the Portuguese leftists, who were effectively thrown away from the process of forming a new government, were extremely outraged, especially considering the fact that Prime Minister Coelho said that his immediate task was to implement austerity measures - the main requirement set by European lenders - which the leftists hate so much. The president, for his part, complained that "the Communists have got too close to power", and that it was not them but conservatives who, even as a minority, should rule the country "in order to satisfy Brussels and appease foreign financial markets". President Silva's statement that "in 40 years of democracy, no government in Portugal has ever depended on the support of anti-European forces" speaks for itself.

However, the leftists were not sitting around doing nothing. Leading Western media and think-tanks saw very clearly their ambitious activity that was fraught with serious changes in Lisbon's policies. In his article entitled "Europe fears a new Greece", published on the website of the German publication Die Welt, famous analyst Holger Tsshepits said that Portugal no longer wants to be a model country for the sake of Brussels, and therefore "the anti-Greece may turn into another Greece". Experts at the US banking giant Citi also predicted a coming "leftist coup" in Portugal, which they said "could be the next Greece".

Such a prospect did take a realistic shape in light of the fact that the leftist part of the new Portuguese parliament expressed a vote of no confidence in the Coelho government, which stayed in power for just 11 days. The thing is that Portugal and Greece are similar in terms of a number of factors that are significant for the current moment in history, and not only because the population in either country is about 10 million. Their main similarity can be seen regarding the "red line" of debts which are significantly higher than the annual economic revenue of both Greece and Portugal. In order to overcome pressure from European financial centres, which are forcing the two governments to implement strict neo-liberalist policies, both the Greek and Portuguese leftists are suggesting that the socially-oriented socio-economic policy should not be abandoned. But will Portugal's Socialist Party follow the example of the Greek movement Syriza, which once again conquered the political Olympus in Athens, and retreat from the originally declared intention of having direct talks with Brussels and leading EU countries? Perhaps, this is the question that will constitute the main intrigue in the process of the possible accession of leftist forces to the peak of Portuguese politics, as well as whether Portugal will remain "an example of a positive experience of austerity measures" in the event of, say, President Silva wishing to prevent a leftist cabinet from being formed and scheduling a new election, in which Coelho's supporters will get a chance to get even.

However it may be, Portugal has turned into yet another platform of confrontation between forces that constitute the systemic pillar of the EU and those who challenge the might of liberal conservative elites. However, on a par with this struggle the Old World is experiencing yet another no less grand drama that is capable of shaking the foundations of modern European order. In the context of this drama, the sentiments of a considerable part of members of the public in Europe are now playing in favour of far-right forces who advocate the salvation of the European civilization from the migrant invasion.

What's to be done with the migrants?

Europe "the grannie" is becoming flooded with thousands of people from the Muslim East, most of whom have left their countries because of endless wars, in the unfolding of which European leaders had a weighty hand as well. As if in retaliation for the actions of the latter, destiny has sent down to Europe "hordes" of deprived Asians and Africans, most of whom are alien to European culture but would do anything just to put down roots in "the kindgom of comfort and well-being".

Undoubtedly, the immigration crisis that has hit the EU threatens to shake the foundations of the Western world and to modify its traditional political, cultural and demographic panorama. This danger is now leading to a split among Europeans themselves, part of whom sympathize with the refugees and are willing to shelter them in full compliance with European humanitarian ideals, while others are extremely scared over possible consequences of the new migration of peoples, mainly the collapse of European identity. Things even reach the point where there are clashes between supporters of these two ideas, who can be theoretically referred to as humanitarians and nationalists. For example, serious disturbances over "European split" took place in Cologne recently.

However, a nationalist bias is increasingly more obvious in the sentiments of the majority of the population of Europe. Pointing to this are also the results of parliamentary elections in countries like Switzerland and Poland. The victory in those elections of the Swiss People's Party and the Polish Law and Justice party shows that Europeans increasingly more often prefer to give their votes to political forces that advocate tougher immigration policies. Particularly noteworthy in this context are the sentiments of people living in Switzerland, which is not an EU member. One of the most prosperous countries of the world, it has effectively never faced a large number of migrants. Nevertheless, almost half of Swiss citizens categorically rejects "foreign invasions".

Amid the problems that Europe is experiencing, of special interest is the model of Azerbaijan as an example of tolerance and multi-cultural society. During his recent visit to Zaqatala District, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev gave a clear-cut assessment to the current situation in Europe through the prism of our national interests. He warned European institutions against interfering in Azerbaijan's affairs and said that given the "discrimination and Islamophobia" reigning in the EU, our country does not intend to step up the process of its integration into the European community.

The Azerbaijani president condemned the fact that "migrants' dignity is humiliated and unacceptable steps are taken against them" in Europe. Especially as "their countries were destroyed as a result of foreign intervention". Ilham Aliyev called on Europeans to be committed to values declared by themselves. "Otherwise, if this situation continues, no demands can be put forward to any country. First of all, you yourselves [Europeans] should put those internal processes into the normal course and be committed to values declared internally and only then demand something from others," the Azerbaijani president said.