{"id":3753,"date":"2015-12-08T10:30:44","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T10:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=3753"},"modified":"2015-12-08T15:58:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-08T15:58:00","slug":"dutch-place-names-the-mini-schengen-and-travel-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/dutch-place-names-the-mini-schengen-and-travel-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutch Place Names, the ‘Mini-Schengen’, and Travel in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post will discuss some recent developments in Dutch and European politics that may soon change foreigners’ options for traveling in the Netherlands and Europe. This is a great chance to work on place<\/em>\u00a0names in Dutch, which can sometimes differ greatly from their English equivalents. Don’t worry — there’s a vocabulary list at the end!<\/em><\/p>\n

In the wake of the vluchtelingencrisis<\/a><\/em> and more recently the Paris attacks<\/a>, some members of the Dutch regering<\/em> are suggesting new ways of addressing the current state of affairs\u00a0in Europe and the world. The decisions they make will affect not only refugees, Dutch citizens, and others in the EU, but also people like you and me who may want to travel to Nederland<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0in and around Europa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Travelers around the world know and love the Schengen agreement<\/a>, the policy of open borders between most European countries. It allows European citizens to move freely around the continent, boosting commercial and cultural exchange throughout Europe. Even better for Dutch learners abroad, Schengen permits residents of certain countries to\u00a0travel 90 days visa free around all of Europe, regardless of where you fly in or out from. This makes for not only\u00a0the ideal backpacking trip, but also a good opportunity to spend a few months immersing yourself in a language.<\/p>\n

\"dijsselbloem<\/a>

Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem at a conference. The sign behind him reads “samen werkt beter<\/i>“, meaning “together works better.”
Photo by Partij van de Arbeid<\/a> via Flickr under CC BY 2.0.<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

Jeroen Dijsselbloem of the\u00a0Partij van de Arbeid<\/em>\u00a0(PvdA)\u00a0<\/em>is both the\u00a0Minister van Financie\u00a0<\/em>in the Netherlands and the voorzitter van de Eurogroep<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>making him a powerful man not only in the Dutch financial world but also in the European Union. Minister Dijsselbloem has recently proposed a new solution to the refugee crisis in Europe: a “mini-Schengen<\/a>“. Dijsselbloem’s proposal includes a similar border-free zone with\u00a0Belgi\u00eb<\/em>,\u00a0Duitsland<\/em>,\u00a0Oostenrijk<\/em>, and, curiously,\u00a0Zweden<\/em>. Outside this “harde kern<\/em>” of European countries, normal\u00a0grenzen\u00a0<\/em>would be restored and maintained.<\/p>\n

Minister-President Mark Rutte of the\u00a0Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie\u00a0<\/em>(VVD), the neoliberal center-right party and majority party in the T<\/em>weede Kamer\u00a0<\/em>that governs the Netherlands, supports this idea<\/a>. Leftist and centrist parties, like the pro-Europe D66, strongly oppose what they call “EU-defaitisme<\/a><\/em>” and the establishment of a mini-Schengen zone.<\/p>\n

Such a mini-Schengen agreement\u00a0would allow member countries to\u00a0instate\u00a0grensbewaking\u00a0<\/em>to keep refugees from\u00a0Syri\u00eb\u00a0<\/em>and other countries out.<\/p>\n

The reason Minister Dijsselbloem and his supporters cite as justification is the irresponsibility of other EU countries — particularly in Oost<\/em> and Zuid Europa<\/em> — in taking in asylum-seekers. The entire European Union is legally required to work under the same\u00a0asielbeleid<\/em>, which specifies that refugees must remain in the\u00a0land van aankomst<\/em><\/a>, where they originally arrive in Europe. This means that, according to the law, Southern Europe and the\u00a0Balkan\u00a0<\/em>countries should be receiving nearly all asylum-seekers, and\u00a0Noord\u00a0<\/em>and West Europa\u00a0<\/i>none.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A map of asielaanvragen<\/i> in the EU. The colors show the asylum requests per country as a proportion of those countries’ native populations.
Image via Maximilian D\u00f6rrbecker<\/a> via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 2.0<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0law is on Dijsselbloem’s side, and it is true that\u00a0Eastern European countries\u00a0like Polen<\/em> and Tsjechi\u00eb<\/em> aren’t receiving as many refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. However, there has been so far little mention the burden of Ukrainian refugees<\/a> and Eastern Europe’s\u00a0lack of suitable refugee infrastructure<\/a>. The crisis in nearby\u00a0Oekra\u00efne\u00a0<\/em>has in many ways consumed such resources in Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n

Similarly omitted are discussions of the responsibilities of the oil rich Golfstaten<\/em>\u00a0who have accepted zero refugees to date<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"middle<\/a>

Image via Wikimedia Commons<\/a> under\u00a0CC BY-SA 4.0<\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dijsselbloem and the VVD say they mean business, but journalists are skeptical<\/a>. Duitsland<\/em>\u00a0reportedly wants nothing to do with a mini-Schengen zone<\/a>, and Dijsselbloem has also said\u00a0more than once that open borders with Belgium and Germany are crucial to the economy<\/a>. Similarly odd is the inclusion of Zweden<\/em>\u00a0in this group — separated geographically from the rest by Denemarken<\/em>, it seems an impractical inclusion.<\/p>\n

In all likelihood, we can rest assured that our summer backpacking trips through the Schengen zone will remain unhindered. The general consensus is that Dijsselbloem and his supporters are only threatening<\/a> their Eastern neighbors. Even if Dijsselbloem is actually serious, it appears at the moment that opposition from Germany and others will foil his plans.<\/p>\n

You can listen to a clip from\u00a0BNR Nieuwsradio\u00a0<\/em>discussing the issue here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Woordenlijst<\/strong><\/span><\/em>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Plaatsnamen\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>or place names:<\/strong><\/p>\n