Fake news are starting to flow in European elections campaign, especially from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (Rassemblement National).
The last one from MEP Dominique Bilde deserves to be highlighted, as it is one of the weirdest. As an MEP (Rassemblement National, ENF group), Mrs Bilde can’t ignore what Erasmus+ is. But let’s remind her of what it is: the program helping students to study abroad since 1987 has changed its name in 2014 when it grew in size and started to deal with schools, professional training, sport or unemployed. It’s not only for universities anymore.
Since this change happened, Erasmus had added a “plus” to its name.
A lot of people still use the word Erasmus, but the official word and official website are Erasmus+.
For Dominique Bilde though, this “plus” is supposed to say something else: more migration, she said in a National Rally meeting in the town of Bruz in Britanny.
.@DominiqueBilde : "La Commission européenne a lancé "Erasmus+". Que signifie ce "+" à votre avis ? PLUS DE MIGRANTS, évidemment !" #Bruz #OnArrive pic.twitter.com/H0rS8v3uDT
— Rassemblement National (@RNational_off) April 6, 2019
This is utter nonsense, and it does not refer to anything. Erasmus has always targeted Europeans. A few other countries are taking part, like Iceland, Lichtenstein, Turkey, Norway and a few South American universities, to the biggest benefit of students.According to Eurostat, migrants coming in the EU arrive from Syria, Erythrea, Iraq and Afghanistan mainly: they come from war zones.
Not from Iceland – this country has 348.000 inhabitants anyway.