Page 31 - bne_Magazine_October_2017
P. 31

bne October 2017 Central Europe I 31
Peter Leyburn, EMEA director of client services at Colliers International.
“This market dynamic, termed the 'labour force boomerang', is likely to translate into increased investment interest, provided that worker pro- ductivity can keep pace with Europe. This should mean higher demand for office and industrial real estate space and increased retail spending.”
The UK is currently home to a size- able share of migrants from the CEE region, including 40% of all the Slovaks in Western Europe, equat- ing to 1.7% of Slovakia’s population. Also, some 34% of Poles in Western Europe, 24% of Czechs and 20% of Hungarians also live in the country.
Aside from Brexit, Colliers’ research also finds new “pull” factors in the CEE
countries, as tighter labour markets push wages up, and negatives such
as corruption and political instability lessen. At the same time, governments across the region are trying to entice back emigres, with Slovakia and Hungary in particular driving these efforts.
Hungary says “rape of European law and values” behind EU court’s refugees verdict
bne IntelliNews
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Septem- ber 6 accused the EU’s top court of waving through a political "rape of European law and values" by rejecting a challenge from Hun- gary and Slovakia to Brussels’ com- pulsory migrant relocation deal.
Szijjarto added that in his eyes the verdict did not compel Hungary to take in the thousand-plus migrants it was asked to under the quota arrange- ment – drawn up to ease pressure
on countries on the frontline as regards the movement into Europe of migrants, such as Italy and Greece – but the European Commission is expected to fight that interpretation.
The minister pledged to use all legal means to battle the "appalling and irre- sponsible" European Court of Justice judgement, which he claimed stemmed from "a political decision not... a legal or expert decision". He declared to reporters: "Politics has raped European law and European values. This deci- sion practically and openly legitimates the power of the EU above the member states... The real fight starts now."
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, meanwhile, issued a measured response to the judgement from the court in Luxembourg, saying his country's posi- tion on the quotas "does not change".
The verdict was welcomed by the Commission, the executive for the 28-nation European bloc."ECJ confirms relocation scheme valid.
The ECJ sided with the Commission
in stating that the agreement "actually contributes to enabling Greece and Italy to deal with the impact of the 2015 migration crisis and is proportionate".
Worst migrant crisis since WWII
Since 2014, the EU has suffered its worst migrant crisis since WWII. Around 1.7mn migrants have tried to enter the EU to
“Hungary, along with Poland, has refused to take even one asylum seeker”
Time to work in unity and implement solidarity in full," tweeted EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos.
The countries claim that the refugee policy puts them at risk of Islamist terrorism and amounts to a threat to their homogenous societies. Poland, where a right-wing popu- list government has come into office since the 2015 deal, supported the court case against the Commission brought by Hungary and Slovakia.
settle in member states. Anyone deemed to be suffering war or persecution – such as numerous people among the great multitudes of migrants fleeing conflicts in the Middle East – are entitled under European and international law to asy- lum. In 2015, European leaders agreed that 160,000 migrants with a plain need for protection should be shared between EU member states over two years.
Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia and Romania, however, voted against the
www.bne.eu


































































































   29   30   31   32   33