Europe needs a debate on immigration

In the run-up to Sweden's parliamentary elections on September 19 the Swedish television station TV4 prevented the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats from broadcasting a campaign spot with anti-Islamic content. The conservative daily Berlingske Tidende sees this as symptomatic for a suppressed yet long-overdue debate on immigration: "The fact is that the EU countries are dominated by ageing populations. We need people who are willing and able to contribute to growth and prosperity and who want to become an intellectual and cultural part of Western society. Denmark and other countries that have pulled the brakes and allowed pressing debates to take place can teach the rest of the EU that immigration must be controlled, so that problems can be solved before they loom too large. Certainly, such public debates can be uncomfortable, oversimplified and offensive. But what is the alternative to free and open democracy? The absence of public debate is far worse."

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