Europe has been in turmoil over the issue of so-called “migration” (which at this point in time is the arrival of people who are predominantly Middle Eastern or North African Muslims, although it is not completely limited to those groups). The basic trend of response among the European nations is that the more-protectionist (and ex-Soviet-satellite) countries of eastern Europe are pitted against the more-inclusive countries of western Europe, although countries in the latter region have recently developed sizeable factions who are increasingly simpatico with the eastern countries’ stance.

Austria seems to be the dividing line between east and west, and I believe it’s no accident that historically it was also the place where the military advances of the Ottoman Empire into Europe were stopped many centuries ago:

The Battle of Vienna…took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 12 September 1683 after the imperial city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Habsburg Monarchy, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Holy Roman Empire, under the command of King John III Sobieski against the Ottomans and their vassal and tributary states. The battle marked the first time the Commonwealth and the Holy Roman Empire had cooperated militarily against the Ottomans, and it is often seen as a turning point in history, after which “the Ottoman Turks ceased to be a menace to the Christian world”.

Austria has recently elected the extremely young Sebastian Kurz, who has talked a harder line on immigrants:

Sebastian Kurz won Austria’s election by talking bluntly about immigration…

Europe’s refugee crisis brought people to Austria “who sometimes brought ideas that have no place in our country”, Mr Kurz, 31, tells the Financial Times. “It is a new form of anti-Semitism imported by some. There are people who reject our way of living, who are against equality between men and women.”…

In government Mr Kurz’s outspokenness would spread ripples across Europe. He demands the effective defence of the EU’s external borders, a stop to illegal immigration and curbs on foreigners’ access to welfare payments.

Here’s a map of the extent of the Ottoman Empire at the time the Battle of Vienna took place. It is quite instructive, I believe, if you relate it to what’s going on today (you might have to enlarge it to see it). Make sure you take a look at where Vienna is; slightly to the left (west) of the territory:

Hungary is somewhat to the east of Austria, and Hungary has staked out an even stronger anti-migrant position [emphasis mine] so far:

Hungary will withdraw from the UN Global Compact for Migration before it comes into effect, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Wednesday in Budapest following a government meeting.

Under right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Hungary has sought to insulate itself from influxes of refugees and migrants through increasingly hardline policies.

“This package goes against Hungary’s common sense and interests,” said Szijjarto. The agreement supports migration and considers it to be a human right, which, according to the minister, is unacceptable from Hungary’s point of view.

The text of the new treaty was agreed at the UN General Assembly last Friday, and aims to create a worldwide framework for managing migration…

The agreement is billed by the UN as the first global comprehensive framework on migration, and aims to address migration proactively rather than reactively…

Hungary rejects the quota-based distribution of refugees within the EU, and in 2015 ordered the building of fences along its borders with Serbia and Croatia to keep out migrants travelling along the Balkan route into northern Europe.

The US also rejected the UN compact last year, after agreeing to take part under former president Barack Obama.

Good for Trump; the UN should have no place in telling the US what to do about its borders. And it’s no surprise that Obama previously had agreed to take part, submitting the US to global decisions on these matters, because leftists are for open borders (or mostly-open borders). Lately the left has been calling migration a human right (the Szijjarto quote above refers to that idea), which is shorthand for “countries are not allowed to limit immigration because that would be limiting a basic human right.” And if countries manage to continue to limit immigration de jure, they’re not allowed to limit it de facto because illegal immigrants should not be turned back.

This is the goal, and Hungary and the US are correct to resist it (see also this). If any particular country in the world wishes to open its borders, it’s free to do so, of course.

[NOTE: By the way, Orban is a left-to-right changer:

At the age of 14 and 15, [Orban] was a secretary of the communist youth organisation (KISZ) of his secondary grammar school (KISZ membership was mandatory for university admittance). Orban said in a later interview that his political views had radically changed during the military service: earlier he had considered himself a “naive and devoted supporter” of the Communist regime…

In March 1988, Orban was one of the founding members of Fidesz “Alliance of Young Democrats”) and served as its first spokesperson. The first members of the party, including Orban, were mostly students…who opposed the Communist regime…

On 16 June 1989, Orban gave a speech in Heroes’ Square, Budapest, on the occasion of the reburial of Imre Nagy and other national martyrs of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. In his speech he demanded free elections and the withdrawal of Soviet troops. The speech brought him wide national and political acclaim.

In 1989 Orban would have been 26 years old.

I read much of his Wiki entry and some other articles about him, but find it hard to get a bead on his current politics except for the immigration issue. He’s been called a populist and authoritarian, but it’s hard to tell what’s going on as a whole because most of what’s written about him sticks to the issue of migration.]

[NOTE: This post was originally on my older blog and had comments, but unfortunately the comments didn’t transfer over here.]