Forty years after the Swedish parliament decided to change the until-then homogeneous Sweden into a multicultural country, the number of violent crimes has increased by 300%, and rapes by 1472%. Sweden is second in rape statistics, right after Lesotho in Southern Africa.

aprinkis.lv, 6 February

Amidst all the madness surrounding migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, I have only a few emotional, non-scientific, and statistically unproven observations. To write anything else right now, when the boundaries of rational consideration have long been breached and every new scrap of information is carefully scrutinised with the suspicion that it has been fabricated or at least polished by the ideologues and purists of one side or another, would be, to say the least, hypocritical. The moment has arrived where it really does not matter what kind of, or how well-founded, numbers, data, and arguments we use. Nothing convinces anyone anymore, because it is clear that every piece of news will be followed by a counter-news, then another, and then another, endlessly and pointlessly. At the moment I am writing this commentary, the latest example is the news about the origin of the participants in the New Year's Eve disturbances and sexual assaults in Cologne – it turns out only three were asylum seekers from Syria or Iraq; no, but the majority were “new” refugees who arrived in Germany in 2015; yes, but the majority were illegal immigrants from Morocco and Algeria, not “real” refugees; no, but the majority were just looting, not groping women. No, but, yes, but, no, but, yes, but – until it is clear to everyone that there is no news, only opinions.

And in at least one sense, I think that is excellent. Finally, in Europe – and in the whole of Europe, in all its motley, checkered scale – there is an opportunity for something to appear that remotely resembles a politics of values. Finally, there are public debates in Europe that stir the whole of society – something that seemed impossible in the old Europe, governed by bureaucrats and divided by national interests. The opinions are radically opposed, just like on the issue of abortion in the USA – and there are few who are indifferent. Neither the correct size of cucumbers, nor the volume of agricultural subsidies, and not even the issue of Greece’s potential bankruptcy are as exciting or socially engaging topics.

As we increasingly discern how “information” is selected, touched up, completely distorted, or presented tendentiously, we seem to have fewer and fewer formal benchmarks for forming our own opinions. But perhaps, in reality, there are fewer and fewer signboards that anyone still believes in, and behind whose supposed “objectivity” it was so comfortable to hide? Beneath this superstructure, the true basis of our judgments is emerging. And it is not statistics, numbers, or data – it is our values.

Finally, European politics affects us all, it influences us (or at least we think it does), we hate it, love it, criticise it, and do so together with other Europeans. Swedish national radicals call for a fight against dark-skinned immigrant youths, and, look, in Stockholm they are helped by none other than Polish extremists who have also recently arrived. Liberal minds across the continent and the islands attached to it are united by discussions on how to be open and tolerant toward newcomers who bring intolerance toward sexual minorities, discriminate against their own and our women, and do not respect pluralism as a value. How can we preserve the fundamental values of secular Western societies that allow groups with different religious convictions to coexist peacefully? And where is the line when, in the name of tolerance, freedom of the press and expression falls captive to politically correct self-censorship? Perhaps we will solve the problems simply by having asylum seekers sign a social contract (samhällskontrakt), pledging to respect democracy and equality, as proposed by the Swedish Liberal Women's Party.

Naïve? Of course, it is naïve to think that Europeans, after a short while of stewing over who does or does not have the right to rape “our” women, will suddenly just up and become a nation. Although anthropologists might have a research-based opinion on that. But when I am amused by another well-intentioned question from relatives and friends in Latvia on the topic of “what is happening in the rape capital Sweden?”, I answer something like this: thank you, here in the north of Europe everything is as usual. On Saturday night, the children force me to watch the local Eurovision selection contest “Melodifestivalen”, a terrible pop culture product that attracts a significant part of the Swedish population regardless of ethnic origin. On Sunday afternoon, I dive into the colourful hustle and bustle of the Kista Galleria shopping centre. It is located on the outskirts of Stockholm, near the largest immigrant districts, and successfully draws representatives of all colours, political and religious beliefs into a unifying consumer culture. Young women of Arabic appearance, most likely the cream of the second generation of immigrants, in tight shirts and jeans at a neighbouring table, enjoy their lattes and cappuccinos and discuss the latest films in Swedish; guys parade from Mr STHLM to Jeans Company and back in search of the most stylish jumpers; their parents' generation sips double espressos, watches the crowd, and is undeniably proud of what they have achieved. Quite by chance, I meet an acquaintance here, an IT specialist of Indian descent with all four of his children; we compare experiences in Swedish kindergartens and conclude that they work like real integration “meat grinders”. A couple of shops further, I bump into a young Latvian woman who has arrived quite recently, works various temporary jobs, studies, makes plans for the future, and is expecting a baby with her boyfriend, who has moved here from Africa.
Article first published in the March 2016 issue of the magazine Rīgas Laiks