Bono, the Irish-born singer and songwriter who is lead vocalist of the rock band U2, has blasted Hungary and Poland in the context of the fight against terrorism and the global refugee crisis as examples of “hyper-nationalism”.

In testimony before a Senate subcommittee at Capitol Hill, the musician called on members to take swift action to deal with the global refugee crisis and terrorism.

Bono talked about the flood of people fleeing their homes and called it a human torrent threatening the very idea of European unity. He urged lawmakers to think of foreign aid as national security instead of charity.

“When aid is structured properly, with a focus on fighting poverty and improving governance, it could just be the best bulwark we have against the extremism of our age,” Bono said.

“Existential threat”

Bono said members of Congress need to confront an “existential threat” to Europe that hasn’t been seen since the 1940s.

He claimed that countries such as Poland and Hungary are moving to the right politically, a shift he described as a “hyper nationalism”, as the UK is set for a referendum on EU membership in June. “This is unthinkable stuff,” he said. “And you should be very nervous in America about it”, the U2 frontman said at the hearing.

Africa, in particular, is grappling with what Bono called a phenomenon of three extremes – ideology, poverty and climate. “Those three extremes make one unholy trinity of an enemy and our foreign policy needs to face in that direction,” he said. “It’s even bigger than you think.”

Bono co-founded the One Campaign, an advocacy group that works to end poverty and preventable disease.

via sky.com

photo: forbes.com