The Migration/Refugee Crisis and the (Un/Re) Making of Europe: Risks and Challenges for Greece

Abstract

The migration and refugee crisis that erupted in 2015 landed recession riven Greece with a series of humanitarian, political, social, and financial as well as foreign policy and security challenges. Following a near disastrous open- borders policy steeped in leftist ideological parochialism, Athens aligned itself closely with Germany in support of the EU-Turkey deal that drastically reduced the human flows from Turkey into the EU and invited NATO naval forces to help monitor the implementation of the agreement. This paper is structured around two parts: the first part describes the immigration and refugee crisis itself, from a global, European and national-Greek perspective; the second part analyzes the risks to and policy responses of Greece and how they relate to the country’s overall geostrategic position, at a time when Europe is being redefined as it struggles to respond to a multitude of challenges.

Keywords

Migration, Refugees, Schengen Area, Frontex, Aegean

Citation

Keridis, Dimitris, “The Migration/Refugee Crisis and the (Un/Re) Making of Europe: Risks and Challenges for Greece”, Journal of International Relations, Vol. 15, No. 58, 2018, pp. 69-80, DOI: 10.33458/uidergisi.518934

Affiliations

• Dimitris KERIDIS, Professor, Department of International, European and Regional Studies, Panteion University