Schröder and Blair Call on Europeans to Fight Racism

Whistle stop meetings between the German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have become somewhat of a regular feature. But then, in a Europe that is looking more and more to the right, the pressure is on.

They met again in Berlin at the weekend for what seem to have been positive talks.

At a joint press conference, Blair told reporters that the two leaders had "agreed entirely on the need for democratic people of all persuasions to stand together in solidarity against extremist policies".

"Those policies offer no real security, no real hope, no real answers to the problems people face and we reject them entirely," said Blair.

Nationalism on the rise

Europe has been reeling ever since the surprise success of right-winger Jean-Marie Le Pen (photo) in the first round of France’s presidential elections, and the killing of Pim Fortuyn, the Dutch anti-immigrationist.

Britain itself has had to take stock of a reemerging far-right. The British National Party (BNP), headed by former National Front leader Nick Griffin, recently scored three seats in local council elections.

In Germany, Schröder’s coalition government is trying to ban the right-wing National Democratic Party (NPD).

And some fear that the Christian Social Union leader and chancellor candidate, Edmund Stoiber, may try to woo nationalist German voters by promising hardline immigration policies if he wins at September general elections.

A threat to the entire European Union

But Schröder has been quick to stress that nationalism crosses borders. Before his meeting with Blair, Schröder told the British daily The Guardian that not only was racism a threat to European enlargement, but that expansion to the east would be the only way to fight it.

Blair and Schröder also talked about the Middle East and Afghanistan. Both hoped that political and security issues would be at the center of peacemaking efforts.

Later, Blair made an appearance on a popular current affairs chat show on German TV, hosted by Sabine Christiansen. On the subject of Germany’s high unemployment rate, Blair showed understanding and said, "We must not forget that German reunification has cost a great deal and all our economies are undergoing great change."

With the slowest economic growth in Europe, unemployment in Germany has risen to around four million. And with IG-Metall, the powerful engineering workers’ union, on a campaign of strikes, Schröder’s election chances are seen as very slim. A Friday poll showed his Social Democrat Party lagging yet further behind the opposition Christian Democrats.