Armor Yourself

            The quote from George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones was only half complete. Yet for this post, the rest of it seems overwhelmingly relevant. Martin continues in the quote to tell readers, “Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” This is all in reference to the ‘who’ that the world will never forever remember you to be. This part of the quote alone serves as a valuable lesson in its own right. People have to take an image, despite how bad it may be, and use it to their advantage. If the world will never forget, use it to your own devices and make it your own.

            This is a tactic often employed by the media as well. Often people just refer to them as media cover-ups.  In American news, stories are exposed all the time of how journalists hid a story on a certain politician or left out key details in reporting. Every media outlet does this to a certain degree, because media doesn’t lack bias. Each outlet is trying to project the version of the news it wants its viewers to believe as truth.

            It is now my third week working for the EPP Press and the position is slowly growing on me more and more. The feelings of uncertainty and indifference were starting to vanish. No, it wasn’t the office an MEP, but yes it did offer that immersion into politics I was hoping to have.

            This week was my introduction into the weekly EPP press meetings. They take place every Monday morning (with the exception of Strasbourg week) and outline what the press is responsible for covering throughout the week. It’s set up similar to a board meeting. The press advisors from the twenty-eight member states surround the table as the head ofthe EPP Press, Pedro Lopez, sits at the head of the table. The interns sit (if they manage to find a seat), but mostly stand in the back and observe the meeting.

            After the brief meeting, Pauline, my supervisor, and I were off to meet with the other press advisors who worked for the Foreign Affairs committee with the EPP Group. It was a large office in an area of the building I had never been to before. A bold, stocky German sat at the forefront behind his desk. The rest, Pauline and myself included, circled his desk. “I feel like I’m a real editor at a newspaper again with a team,” he remarked. The issue of the week was the Lampedusa Tragedy.

            “If we would have just gotten to the story first none of this would have happened,” the German started. “This whole catastrophe would have never gotten out. Now we look bad. Not just the European Union, but the EPP Group too. This needs a new angle.”

            He was referring to the current backlash the European Union was receiving on its policies toward migration, which I learned is how it is described in Europe. The term immigration is never used like in the United States. Europe has always been the Promised Land for those whose own country was experiencing turmoil. Especially for those located in the Middle East and Africa, because geographically Europe is so close within reach. Some parts of Spain almost touch Africa. A simple ferry ride fromMorocco can land someone in Spain in as little as two and a half hours.

            In the Lampedusa tragedy, African migrants were fleeing from Eritrea to the small Italian island in poorly made boats. Disastrously on one of these perilous journeys, a boat sunk and there were more than three hundred lives lost. These lives included young children traveling with their parents.

            The German kept talking, “We as the EPP have to find a way to deal with this positively. Policies could’ve been better, but let’s look at it from development. We’ll spin the story as Lampedusa Tragedy sparks wake up call in development policy and human rights. Must work harder to improve conditions in their homes so people will want to stay instead of changing asylum and refugee policies.”

Honestly, the idea was brilliant. This man was taking a crisis that exposed the flaws of the European Union nothaving a common foreign policy and turning into a development issue. It is common knowledge in Europe that when it comes to foreign policy, including issues of border control, these decisions are left to the individual member state and there is not one that is European-wide. The result is many complications, because the European is not able to create a unified image on international issues when twenty-eight member states are all voicing their own stance.

            I left the meeting with mixed feelings. The approach was beyond clever. I’m sure Martin would be delighted to hear of such a strategy. It was as if his advice was being used word for word, yet ethically it all felt wrong. Was it correct to push the attention away from the lack of a European Union foreign policy? Was it fair to make it all about development, but not focus on better methods for assisting those looking for a better life in Europe? These were questions that may never receive tangible answers.