The Migration Crisis and the Problems of “Soft Security” in Germany

The current migration crisis has far-reaching challenges for EU countries. Global migration is forcing countries to completely reconsider their migration policies, the effectiveness of control, and the integration of migrants. As one of the EU's leading countries, Germany is the biggest lobbyist for the establishment of a common migration policy in the EU. This chapter contributes to the academic discussion on establishing a single mechanism for managing migration flows in the European Union. The analysis confirms that EU countries are faced with the need to find new ways to resolve the migration crisis. In this direction, Germany has become the country where one can trace the uniqueness of the political phenomenon of integration of migrants into the host community as a measure to overcome the migration crisis. The evidence reveals the growth of threats for national, regional, and international security caused by the growing migration crisis and transformation of the policy of integration of migrants in Germany under the influence of this factor.

Heroes or criminals? The legitimacy of humanitarian organizations rescuing lives in the Central Mediterranean Sea after 2017

Since late 2016, NGOs operating in the Mediterranean have been at the centre of a campaign of delegitimization and criminalization culminating with former Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini’s 2018 NGO ban, which de facto erased the presence of humanitarian search and rescue operations and left the national coastguards to deal with an unprecedented migration crisis. Drawing upon discourse analysis of Italian and international news media articles and informed by semi-structured interviews with NGO representatives, this study investigates the implications of such media-driven public hostility. The results are threefold: first, the climate of suspicion surrounding NGOs has damaged them profoundly and led to a dramatic increase in deaths. Consequently, second, NGO’s ability to present themselves publicly as legitimate has been heavily limited. Last, it is fundamental to investigate the range of legitimation strategies all organizations can use when victims of a media-led scandal or a smear campaign are legitimized by political institutions.

Anti-EU Backlash from Below or Above? Public Opinion in Central and Eastern Europe Prior to the 2015 Migration Crisis

Relations between Brussels and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) worsened during and after the 2015 migration crisis. In order to see to what extent CEE citizens contributed to and/or resonated with this new state of affairs, this paper investigates public opinion before the migration crisis in seven CEE EU Member States. We inquire whether the main issues of the rift (CEE political elites’ opposition to following EU decisions and immigration and their emphasis on sovereignism, nationalism, Christian Europe and historical traumas) could also be traced to public stances towards these issues before the migration crisis. We used the ISSP National Identity module conducted in 2013 and 2014 in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia. The results show that opposition to EU supranationalism was not linked to ethnic nationalism and religious identity (except in Hungary). Contrary to political elites, who emphasised the cultural threat posed by migration, public opinion was more concerned with the economic threat. Moreover, the perception of cultural threat was not linked to opposing EU supranationalism in any of the countries. However, particularly support for sovereignism (in almost all the countries), but also pride in national history (in some countries) correlated negatively with support for EU supranationalism. The results suggest that political elites can bypass public opinion to construct an anti-EU climate, however not out of thin air. The conditions for such a process were present in Hungary with its emerging transnational cleavage, which shows the importance of cleavages in studying Euroscepticism.

Integration Policies and Public Perceptions of Immigrants in Europe

National mechanisms of migrant integration into the host society and the wider social context in which migration occurs may affect the construction of public attitudes towards migrants regardless of their origin or status. By combining the data of two international studies: the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) and the European Social Survey (ESS), this paper examines national policies regarding migrant integration and the public perception of migrants in the host society in selected European countries. This analysis highlights especially the shifts in public attitudes as possible consequences of the 2015/2016 European “migration crisis”. The data from 27 European countries that participated in the last waves of both MIPEX2020 and ESS2018 were analysed according to the four-dimensional MIPEX categorisation: 1) Comprehensive integration, 2) Equality on paper, 3) Temporary integration, and 4) Immigration without integration (Integration denied). These categories of states’ migration policies were then combined with the public perceptions of immigrants examined by the ESS. Multilevel regression models demonstrated that the respondents from countries with well-developed integration policies express a more positive attitude towards immigrants and acknowledge their contribution to all areas of the host society. A higher proportion of non-EU-27 immigrants in the country correlates with a more negative perception of immigrants’ impact on the host country. Even though the MIPEX score does not reflect clearly the shift in migration policies affected by the European “migration crisis”, it could be considered a stable, though relatively weak predictor of anti-immigrant prejudice. In conclusion, this study's findings suggest that better-developed policies of political participation and immigrant inclusion foster more positive attitudes towards immigrants.

CRISIS ON THE POLISH-BELARUSIAN BORDER IN LIGHT OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE V4 MIGRATION POLICY

The author undertakes the attempt to trace in development and diversity the approaches of the Visegrad Group countries to the problem of refugees and migrants from the beginning of transformational processes in this part of Europe to the latest crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border. In this perspective, the study of the problem is being undertaken for the first time. The novelty of the study is the comparison of not only approaches, but also the typology of migration problems that the region faced during the «post-socialist period» and the initial stage of reforms. The study of the problem in this perspective helps to understand the causes and features of the approach of such countries as Hungary, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia to the current migration crisis and the reasons for contradictions with the EU’s general policy on this issue. Intraregional migration of the late 1980’s was gradually replaced at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century by the problem of inocultural migration, which could not be combined with the tasks of transforming societies and, in itself, along with the usual ones, required new approaches from these countries, which are discussed in this study.

Employment Problems of Muslim Migrants in France (Exemplified by Paris). Part 1

The first part of the article briefly covers the history of immigration to France, social conflicts associated with migrants, and the results of French research on discrimination of immigrants in employment. In spite of the high unemployment rate, compared with other European Union countries, France remains one of the centres of migration and receives a significant number of migrants and refugees every year. The origins of immigration to France go back to the mid-19th century. Initially, it was mainly for political reasons, in order to find a job or receive an education. Between the First and the Second World Wars, France accepted both political (e.g. from Russia, Germany and Spain) and labour migrants (from Africa and Indo-China). After World War II, the French government actively invited labour migrants from the French colonies, primarily, from North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco). When the Algerian War ended, the Harkis – Algerians who served in the French Army – found refuge in France. By the late 1960s, the Moroccan and Tunisian communities were formed. Up to the 1980s, labour migration was predominant. However, with time, the share of refugees and those who wanted to move to France with their families started to increase. This caused a growing social and political tension in French society resulting in conflicts (e.g. the 2005 riots in Paris). Moreover, the numerous terrorist attacks and the migration crisis of 2014–2016 had a particularly negative impact on the attitude towards migrants. All these issues have to a certain extent affected the employment of the Muslim population in France.

The paradigm of the migration crisis and its influence on national legislation on irregular migration

The aim of this article is to provide a detailed study of the ways in which the paradigm of crisis has influenced the law and practice of European countries in the field of irregular migration. Bearing in mind that the perception of “crisis” is ambiguous and does not have legal definition, the first part of this paper will provide a clarification of its scope and some contexts in which it is used. Secondly, labelling some situations as “crises” requires some urgent and unusual actions. Hence, it is important to indicate what types of legal measures and normative solutions, therefore, prevail nowadays in the practice of states. The countries that are particularly interesting in this context include Germany, Sweden, and Denmark, whose migration policies have, over the course of the past few years, decisively shifted from a relatively open approach towards more restrictive solutions. Although the crisis in the migration context is defined bipolarly, a characteristic feature of the paradigm shift is focusing on the elimination or at least limitation of the presence of foreigners on the territory of the statethrough border controls, obstruction of access to international protection and family reunification, as well as increasing the effectiveness of forced returns. The result of these consideration has led to the conclusion that on the one hand the authorities’ rhetoric of crisis not automatically mean the use of special and emergency measures foreseen by law. On the other hand, the narrative referring to defeat and catastrophe justified the introduction of controversial solutions in a hurry, often with disregard for the detailed analyses and regulatory impactassessment, which are common in such cases. At the same time, the determinant of the shape of the migration law is the “temporariness” inherent in the crisis paradigm. One of its most important elements is the departure from long-term residence permits, guaranteeing a certain stability in connection with international protection, in favour of short-term permits.

CONTEXT OF RELIGION SECURITIZATION: CASES OF ARTSAKH AND NORTHERN IRELAND

Securitization of religion, or consideration of religion within the context of the security sector, has returned to the Slovak and Serbian context in connection with the migration crisis. This paper is mostly theoretical, and the question of religious identity is categorized under the sector of societal security. Unlike other conflicts of identity, religion is polarizing, and religious conflicts feature the destruction of cultural heritage and religious monuments. Religious conflicts can be observed among both believers of different religious groups as well as among different denominations of one particular religion. The last section deals with the particular cases of Artsakh and Northern Ireland. In the former conflict, nationalism and overlapping territorial claims play a key role, but the later conflict can be better understood as a hierarchical ethnic conflict.

“Our migrant” and “the other migrant”: migration discourse in the Albanian media, 2015–2018

The expansion of research on migration over recent decades has neglected sending and transit countries. Whether in terms of their internal development, their diaspora policy, their shift from primarily sending countries to (potential) transit or destination countries, or the issue of return migration and reintegration into home societies – all these topics deserve further exploration. This paper seeks to redress this by examining Albania, a sending country with almost a third of its population living externally, and which is recently shifting to a transit and potential destination country. Media discourse on migration was analysed, recalling its power to reflect as well as shape public opinion. Employing a quantitative approach, media discourse on migrants from 2015 to 2018 was examined. Some 55 web-based media were identified, along with twenty TV channels, 61 TV programs, and 317 articles. A qualitative analysis was then used to detect the tone of the discourse and gain a deeper understanding of the messages conveyed. Results showed that migration from the perspective of a sending country has dominated Albanian media discourse over the monitoring period. Major identified issues include: migration and demographic challenges, migration and multiculturalism in societies receiving Albanian migrants, and asylum seeking as a recent trend in Albanian emigration often standing in the way of potential Albanian EU membership. The regional migration “crisis” and the potential of Albania becoming a transit or destination country for refugees has only gained limited attention. The binary of “our migrant” versus “the other migrant” became a key distinction.