- Hillary Clinton is facing a backlash after arguing that European leaders should seek to assuage the concerns of a growing right-wing populism across the continent by refusing to offer “refuge and support” to migrants.
- “Europe has done its part, and must send a very clear message — ‘we are not going to be able to continue to provide refuge and support,'” Clinton said in an interview published Thursday.
- The former secretary of state’s comments were met with widespread condemnation from immigration advocates and some politicians around the world.
Hillary Clinton is facing backlash for arguing that European leaders should try to assuage the concerns of a growing right-wing populism across the continent by refusing to offer “refuge and support” to migrants.
“I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what lit the flame,” Clinton said in an interview with The Guardian that was conducted before the US midterm elections and published on Thursday.
The former secretary of state said that while she admired the generosity of leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who opened up the country’s borders in 2015 as migrants fled war and political crises in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, she thought it was “fair to say Europe has done its part, and must send a very clear message — ‘we are not going to be able to continue to provide refuge and support’ — because if we don’t deal with the migration issue it will continue to roil the body politic.”