THE EUROPEAN OPERATIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA TO DEAL WITH MIGRATION AS A SYMPTOM: FROM THE ITALIAN OPERATION MARE NOSTRUM TO FRONTEX OPERATIONS TRITON AND POSSEIDON, EUNAVFOR-MED AND NATO’S ASSISTANCE IN THE AEGEAN SEA

Abstract

The EU operations launched in 2014 and 2015 in the Mediterranean Sea to deal with the so-called migrant and refugee crisis are the main operative answer taken at EU level. They are a clear symptom of the road the EU and its Member States are taking on trying to deal with the migration challenge: is it the road mapped by the European Migration Law based on the International and European Law on Human Rights and on the EU values or, on the contrary, by an exceptional legal regime, for migrants alone, where (supposed) security and (real) egoistic States’ interest prevail?