After the Visegrád Four countries, the United States, Italy, Australia, Austria, Israel and Bulgaria rejected it, the German Bundestag voted with an overwhelming majority in favor of the United Nations migration pact.
The migration pact works from the assumption that migration is a fundamentally positive phenomenon, akin to a right, with the “only problem” being that it is largely unregulated and illegal.
The solution, according to the U.N., is to legalize the currently illegal forms of migration and erase the differences between refugees fleeing from danger and economic migrants coming in hope of a better life.
Some proponents of the document argue that it would not impose its rules upon national legislations. Others, however, such as German Professor of Law Matthias Herdegen say that supranational tribunals have a tendency to base their decisions on such “soft” laws, meaning that the U.N. pact’s effects will seep through courts into national legislations.
The fact that several countries rejected the pact is a clear indication that the current proposal is exclusively based on the interests of the issuing countries, without regard to the interest of transit and target countries.
The German vote clearly shows that the pro-migration paradigm remains very much in effect in Germany and despite some German modifications and restrictions on immigration, the “Willkommenskultur” is still in effect. This will inevitably have an effect on the tone and direction of the upcoming European elections.
