Miscellaneous
Admit it. You forgot about the refugee crisis. COVID-19 does a lot of nasty stuff to us, and one of its most neglected symptoms is our ability to forget about all the other crises in Europe. The massive waves of asylum-seekers seem gone, mostly. But how come they are? Plenty of reasons to name here, but one of them is Frontex: the newly established European Border and Coast Guard. Being the first body that can call itself a kind of "European police", its aim is to defend the EU's borders at any costs. The costs are, as expected, high. And they're paid by the refugee. Martin Alberdí Rodriguez (a Madrid political scientist), Jules Ortjens (a Dutch local leader of liberal European party Volt), and Federico Giovannini (a Bologna-based Marxist political philosopher) get you in 40 minutes through the chaos at the shores of Greece. Who are Europe's new police forces? And is Frontex actually a good idea? MUSIC: Charles Ortjens-Straatman PICTURE: Edward Lich