I have read/listen to a bit of research when it comes to diplomacy and tensions between nations, and a common theme is that its the small things that tend to have a large impact on kinship, trust and cooperation.
Ukrainian government is killing it on the "media war" and certainly a case study for the future. It certainly helps that the President is a comedian by trade and backed by producers and screenwriters - they know exactly what people want to ear/see/read. Of course this has also a (huge) negative side but this is another story. Some stuff that makes sense in a movie, doesn't make sense on real life. Scenarios and deaths are real.
When you have an incompatible religion, it's not generations away, when those generations hold on to that religion. That is the difference between Europeans with an older mentality, and people coming from a religion that doesn't share European values.
That is a BIG generalisation and assumes there is a compatible religion. This is why Ukrainian propaganda is so dangerous. Poland and Hungary still have massive problems with LGBT rights and general tolerance. All signs point to the fact that Ukraine will be similar if not worse.
Of course there is a compatible religion: Take buddhism for example.
I agree that Poland and Hungary have problems with LGBT rights, but like I said, that is the 1 or 2 generational gap. Ukraine might indeed have that same problem. But give it a generation or 2.
My wife is from Slovakia, and also there you can see the difference between mentality. Newer generations are more tolerant.
Which ones would those be?
- equality
- democracy
- Separation of powers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers)
- ...
See for official EU value: https://ec.europa.eu/component-library/eu/about/eu-values/
The crux of the problem here is that people are searching for reasons to justify actions that are rooted in racism. That is how you end up with vague discussions about feelings, incompatible cultures, "values" and so on.
When the laws come about as functions of entrenched religious thinking, one is not above the other. This value is also not listed on the page you link.
> equality
Clearly not, as not all refugees are equal.
> Democracy
You've got me there.
Many of the listed values are there for PR purposes: The practicalities of daily living are different or in some aspects even very different.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_state Take a good look at which countries are not part of that list. You cannot have freedom of religion without it.
> Clearly not, as not all refugees are equal.
The process seems equal to me: https://www.cgrs.be/en/international-protection/refugee-stat....
Still, I also find it ridiculous how the media’s making them look like immaculate heroes. Power of propaganda I guess.
> Ukrainian propaganda
Unimaginable
I think there is innate tribalism in all of us. We can all rationally fight it and we rationally know what is morally the right thing to do. But it is in our core psychology to look for similarities/differences and identify as close/distance to other people.
The Ukrainian government has also made an amazing job at galvanizing EU social media around this. The message is clear, it is us, your european brothers and sisters who are suffering right now, please help.
In many ways the Ukrainians have succeeded in an information war where the Georgians, Armenians, Sirians, Yemenis have been unfortunately less successful.