40 Europe The EconomistJuly 22nd 2017
1(^2) arriving in Italy. They formed the biggest
group after Nigerians. That may be related
to the fact that in 2016, the last year for
which figures are available, Italian tribu-
nals extended some form of protection to
24% of applicants from Bangladesh, a poor
country but scarcely Syria.
Italy has one of the world’s lowest birth
rates, and few countries are in greater need
of immigrants. But an influx of undocu-
mented migrants, many ofwhom end up
idling in illegal makeshift camps, is no way
to deal with that issue. For Italians, the
Mediterranean migration crisis represents
a humanitarian burden. Geography has
saddled them with the problem, and their
governments’ disorganisation has exacer-
bated it. Their fellowEUmembers are not
eager to help out. 7
Floating odds
Source: Italian Interior Ministry To end of June
Italy, asylum applications
By country of origin, 2017
’000
03691215
Nigeria
Bangladesh
Gambia
Pakistan
Senegal
Ivory Coast
Guinea
Mali
Ghana
Eritrea
Ukraine
Syria
Applicants granted
some form of protection
2016, % of total
25
24
30
37
25
31
29
44
31
78
56
98
Russia’s pricey stadiums
Extra time and punishment
F
ROM a boat cruising past the south
bank of the Neva in St Petersburg,
passing the baroque facades of the Win-
ter Palace and the gilded dome of St
Isaac’s cathedral, it can seem as if the 19th
century never ended in Russia. But turn
to the river’s north side and you will see
something much more futuristic: Krestov-
sky stadium, a Japanese-designed foot-
ball arena nicknamed “the spaceship”. In
June and July the newly opened stadium
hosted several matches of the Confeder-
ations Cup, a second-tier tournament,
meant to serve as a dress rehearsal for
Russia’s hosting of the FIFAWorld Cup
next year (and, unavoidably, won by
Germany’s B team). Russians are hoping
the competition itself works out better
than the preparations. Krestovsky stadi-
um was completed eight years behind
schedule and 540% over budget.
The scandals that have plagued the
project since construction started in 2007
have made it a symbol of the corruption
in Vladimir Putin’sRussia. A former
vice-governor of the region has been
charged with taking a $351,000 kickback
to award the stadium’s lighting contract.
Western newspapers report that the
builders made extensive use of forced
labour by North Korean workers.
Meanwhile, the building had to be
redesigned. Engineers feared that a com-
bination of heavy snow and high winds
could cause the roofto fall in. The pitch
was torn up and replaced after failing an
inspection byFIFA, international foot-
ball’s governing body. When the ground
was finally finished, some players loved
it: Michael Boxall, a New Zealand defend-
er, termed it “top-notch”. Yet certain
opinions in football matter more than
other ones. A Portuguese forward called
it “a difficultpitch where the grass was
somewhat too long”; unfortunately for
the Russian groundskeeper, that for-
ward’s name was Cristiano Ronaldo.
The problems echo those of the Win-
ter Olympics that Russia hosted in 2014 in
Sochi, the cost of which eventually ex-
ceeded 1.5tn roubles ($25bn). In 2015 the
regional government of Krasnodar
agreed to spend a further 3bn roubles to
convert its Winter Olympic stadium into
a football venue by removing the roof.
The job was finished five months late,
and although the stadium will host some
World Cup matches, no home team has
been found to play there afterwards.
Mr Putin is unlikely to lose sleep over
his stadiums’ bloated budgets. He is
certain to be re-elected president next
year. But in protests organised in June by
his chief opponent, Aleksei Navalny, tens
of thousands of demonstrators across the
country chanted “corruption steals our
future”. Mr Putin hopes the World Cup
will distractRussians from corruption.
Debacles like Krestovsky stadium may
instead focus theirattention on it.
ST PETERSBURG
Corruption in football-stadium projects has Russian fans crying foul
F
OR a president usually eager to get the
drama of politics right, Emmanuel Mac-
ron’s provocation of an open confronta-
tion with his armed forces this month was
a notable stumble. On July14th he celebrat-
ed Bastille Day, ridingin an open-top mili-
tary jeep on the Champs-Elyséesalongside
Pierre de Villiers, the chief of the armed
forces, before reviewing a parade with his
guest of honour, Donald Trump. Five days
laterthe furious general quit, saying he
could no longer “guarantee” the means to
protect France and sustain its ambition.
The affair has become Mr Macron’s first
serious leadership test. He is likely to extri-
cate himself, says François Heisbourg, a
French security analyst, but the spat was
“avoidable, at least in terms of theatre”.
The root of the dispute was money.
General de Villiers, in office since 2014, was
reappointed for another year on June 30th.
He expected the military budget of €33bn
($38bn) to be maintained, and was reas-
sured by Mr Macron’s campaign talk of
raising it from 1.8% to 2% ofGDPby 2025.
Then, this month, the government realised
that its promises both to cut taxes and to
limit the fiscal deficit to 3% ofGDPentailed
spending cuts this year. After the general
heard his budget would fall by €850m, he
told parliamentarians on July 12th that he
would not allow himself to “get screwed”.
That broke with a military tradition of
keeping mum on public affairs, which
gives the army its nickname ofla grande
muette(“the bigmute”). When the general
added, in a social-media post, that no one
deserves to be followed blindly, it chal-
lenged Mr Macron’s assertive image, says
Dominique Moïsi of Institut Montaigne, a
think-tank. The president retreated a bit,
promising the armed forces an extra €1.5bn
for 2018. But at a gathering of military
chiefs on July 13th he called the general’s
behaviour “undignified” and told the men
in uniform: “I am your leader.” It was per-
haps inevitable the general would quit, but
25,000 people have signed a petition de-
manding that Mr Macron apologise.
Mr Macron won’t dream of doing that,
but he might ask how the scrap could have
been avoided. The government could have
been clearer about its spending plans from
the start. Now it faces the headache of find-
ing the promised additional funds for the
armed forces. This year’scuts, which delay
equipment purchases, lookwrong-head-
ed: the armed forces lack, for example,
fighter planes for training pilots, says Fab-
rice Pothier, of the International Institute
for Strategic Studies, a think-tank. But per-
sonnel have alreadybeen slashed to the
bone, leaving little else to cut.
Mr Macron is betting that faster eco-
nomic growth will pay for more spending,
France and its army
Stumbling into a
fight
PARIS
Emmanuel Macron faces an early
leadership test as his army chief quits