Migration and refugee crisis in Europe: States on the Balkan route between securitisation and humanitarianism

Abstract

During 2015, Europe was faced with the migration crisis, which was the consequence of the peak of the perennial migration movements from Africa and Asia, primarily towards the EU member states. Along with the unprecedented number of migrants, the distinctive feature of migration movements was a redirection of the migration route towards the so-called Balkan migration route. Such a dynamic and the direction of movements presented the challenge for the EU and transit countries of Southeastern and Central Europe, which required sustainable solutions in the scope of crisis management. The paper analyzes factors that affected the high increase in the movement of migrants towards the EU member states, primarily into Germany, as well as those that contributed to the opening of the Balkan route, which extended from Greece through Austria towards the other Western European states. Additionally, the paper discusses different actions taken by states affected by the crisis, which were in the span from the humanitarian approach to the securitization. The authors note that domestic and foreign policy goals usually determined different approaches, while sustainability of the approach directly correlated with the ability of the receiving countries to accept migrants. The analysis shows that the only sustainable solution is the one that is based on the factors affecting the migration movements. This applies equally to the migration policies of the emissive, the receiving as well as transit countries.