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Leírás
Mainstream literature often engages with investigating securitization of the European refugee crisis of 2015 by the right-wing political parties in the member states of the European Union (EU). By taking a rather different route, the current study takes the issue with the question of how reactions of the left-wing populist SYRIZA government in Greece are shaped. Although Greece was among the most affected EU member states to the large influx of people, the response of the Hellenic Government was rather moderate in contrast to the restrictive migration and asylum policies of the previous governments. Moreover, political ruling elites did not utilize the crisis as a political instrument within the national political competition. Yet, the current research ascertains that the initial moderate Greek response to the security crisis was completely altered during the Turkish-Greek border crisis of 2019 when the Turkish government opened its borders for the refugees aspiring to enter the soils of the EU. In this regard, it will investigate whether the altered security perception of the state and/or changing geopolitical necessities shape the country’s agenda on the refugees apart from the ideological stance of the government.
Keywords: Greece, the European refugee crisis, geopolitics, Turkish-Greek border crisis of 2019, security