Moving East? Just for fun

By: Alexander Chaplin

In my last blog, I promised to keep you updated on the discussions around the Dutch Party for Freedom’s ‘Hotline for [reporting] Central and Eastern Europeans’, also known as the ‘Poles-Hotline’. The recent commotion in Holland around the question of the future survival of the EU itself, however, has all but quenched media attention for the initiative. Imagine how happy I was to find a new, recently aired hotline to report about, this time devoted to keeping Dutch professional handymen in the country! (www.meldpuntnederlandseklussers.nl)

“The free movement of workers within the EU does not only entail streams of Central and Eastern Europeans coming to the Netherlands; the Dutch also travel in the opposite direction in large numbers,” the website reports (in Dutch). It states that there is a lack of work for professional handymen here in Holland, and bad prospects. “Ironically”, however, there is lots of activity in Eastern-Europe, so our professionals try their luck there, the story continues. “As far as this Hotline is concerned, that is the world turned upside down. That our boys have to go abroad to relieve their families, is a worrisome situation. In this way there is a risk we ourselves are becoming some kind of developmental country,” it concludes. People who are worried about Dutch handymen leaving are then invited to report their concerns.

When I first read this, I wondered whether it was some kind of joke: Dutch handymen leaving for the East, while an overwhelming number of Polish handymen is trying to make a living here? There was also a weird video, again in Dutch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLraeb89wxY. Nevertheless, the website was well maintained and the Twitter page cluttered with news items that showed that the sector of the “boys” indeed is not doing well. “Perhaps some might actually be going east because Poland and Ukraine need to prepare for the European Championship so badly that they cannot manage it all by themselves?” I speculated. It later turned out I was not too far off. But let’s just consider the scenario the website sketches.

How likely is it for Western Europeans to look East for jobs, now and in the future? The website is right that some economies in the East, Poland being a noteworthy example, are quickly growing, while many Western European economies have been stagnating the last few years. Still, in terms of average incomes, none of the newer EU member states is anywhere near Western Europe (although some, like Slovenia, are catching up with Southern European countries). Nevertheless, I know of interesting cases such as a relatively high number of Dutch persons working in call centres in Bulgaria. Most of these people seem to be ‘life-style migrants’, however, excited about the prospect of working and living elsewhere. There are also plenty of Dutch businessmen (and –women) who look East in order to make a buck. Hardly similar in number or nature to the Poles, Bulgarians, and Rumanians (to name the biggest groups) in the Netherlands though.

Seeing large streams of Dutch people migrate elsewhere in Europe for economic reasons is not a likely scenario in the near future. And yet, movements of people (for whichever reasons) are an integral part and also a logical effect of Europe’s internal market system, which all EU member states have signed up for. And indeed, we do already see Dutch people migrating because they desire to: because they want to have a different lifestyle, a different climate, because they marry a foreigner, or because they see good business opportunities. Maybe they rarely go towards the East, but eventually, that will probably happen more and more too. With Eastern Europeans already present in the West in larger numbers, it might be time for the Dutch to start getting more familiar with Eastern Europe – that is, if we can all agree that having good East-West relations is a worthwhile goal, and if we conclude that relations within Europe are never just economical (and even when they are mostly, more is always at stake when people physically relocate…you basically import/export ‘culture’). What in the Netherlands has to be done more than anything else for having good relations with Eastern Europeans (here or there), I think, is for a mental gap to be bridged. A gap between West and East, and between migrants and natives.

I think that to associate Eastern European countries, as the Meldpunt Klussers does, with “developmental” states – in the sense of “3^rd world” countries – is arrogant and insulting. Further, mourning the idea of “our people” leaving the country to make money abroad, yes, even suggesting it is appalling, to me seems like a misrecognition of what the EU is or has come to be about. Are we supposed to look upon Polish workers with pity? What about the Ukrainians who in turn are making money in Poland? Mobility, when chosen, is much praised: just think of travel, or of business trips. When people feel like they have no choice to migrate, it tends to be received far less positively, all the more if the migrants are also looked upon as different in terms of religion, race, cultural background, etc. Throughout human history, people who have migrated out of need have been easy targets for more established inhabitants to unleash their fury on, delve their pity on, and so on. But consider this: might Polish workers, even if they come here because they need (want?) to make money, not enjoy it at the same time – even if it is just whistling at the pretty ladies walking past the construction site, or enjoying some local beers – to mention a few stereotypes? I do not suggest we should take the opposite position and celebrate migration, but coming to understand migrants better – and especially in the current Dutch situation, Eastern European migrants – is a good thing.

While it is worthwhile to review and try to change widespread judgments on the other, we should not downplay real, existing differences in opportunities. To bridge both views of the other and actual inequalities within Europe, a lot of time will be needed. Indeed, the Meldpunt Klussers did not really address an actual problem: a week after its launch, the Meldpunt Klussers revealed that the website was a stunt, a joke set up by a DIY market to wish Dutch handymen a good time cheering the Dutch national team at the European Championship football in Poland and Ukraine (I guess they do not expect to do good business in this period) and an ironic appropriation of the PVV Meldpunt’s format. It will be interesting to see how the Dutchies and other Europeans will be received in Poland and Ukraine, and also how they will experience their time in this part of Europe. Of course, plenty of stereotypes will be referred to and reinforced, by the media and also by ‘normal’ people: there are already a lot of Dutch complaints about bad facilities, about scams, and about impenetrable bureaucracy; besides the reports about the human rights situations. Yet we’ve also seen a lot of happy Dutch faces on squares, taking photos and sharing brother-hood inducing beers together with locals and people from all over Europe. Perhaps football will prove quite important for the Dutch to get to know and understand a bit about a small part of Eastern Europe. So, would the handymen return after the tournament, or would they stay in Poland and Ukraine?

I am convinced that for a while to come, those Dutch people migrating to Eastern Europe will remain exceptions, even rebels of some kind. I hope they will be able to transmit some more accurate knowledge about Eastern Europe to people who remain in the Netherlands and who will not soon look East, however. There definitely is enough to change in the East, from building roads and bridges and stadiums to changing mindsets and political systems, but let’s not pretend that it is less necessary and easier to change widespread conceptions held about the East in the West.

p.s. I am not such a fan of talking in terms of West and East (let alone in capitals), but let’s say it is a recognition of and a wink to widely held views – I wonder if anyone feels bothered by it?