| Abstract [eng] |
This Master's thesis, which focuses on the Russian and Belarusian efforts to destabilise the EU's borders with irregular migrants: an analysis of the Lithuanian and Finnish response, looked at several migration crises.The dependent variables of the 2015 migration crisis were the unrest in the Middle East and the migrants' desire for refuge in Europe. Europe faced a major wave of migration, where the response was not united but divisive. The dependent variable in the 2021 migration crisis in Lithuania and the 2023 migration crisis in Finland is the desire of authoritarian regimes to destabilise the situation on their borders. Border security has been a priority for both the EU and the Member States, and irregular migrants have been used as an instrumentalising tool and have been specifically pushed into the EU. This paper describes how the Lithuanian and Finnish responses to the induced artificial migration crisis were proportionate and effective respectively. The work has three objectives, namely: 1. To analyse the response of Lithuania and Finland to the irregular migration crises based on the following theoretical approaches: post-functionalism, securitisation and instrumentalisation of migrants. 2. To investigate the impact of the response measures at the borders of the countries concerned, using a comparative analysis approach and semi-structured interviews. 3. To assess the measures taken by the EU and the assistance provided by the EU institutions in this context. The Master's thesis draws on the theory of post-functionalism and analyses the politicisation of the migration crisis in the Republics of Lithuania and Finland, as the authorities have primarily emphasised the need to ensure state security. There were no major divisions, so decisions on the response to the migration crisis were swift. According to the theory of securitisation, the threat to public security was migration as an instrumentalising tool. The use of illegal migrants as a destabilisation tool became a threat to the internal security of the Republics of Lithuania and Finland, and it was therefore necessary to take measures to neutralise these threats. The comparative analysis method was used to examine the responses of the Republics of Lithuania and Finland that have stabilised the situation at the border. In the semi-structured part of the interview, respondents revealed their positions and beliefs, which contributed to the outcome of the study. The assessment of the dependent variable of the crisis in the European Union led to changes in the legislation on the common procedure for asylum and return at the border. It can also be concluded that the EU's involvement and assistance measures in helping Member States to manage the migration crisis have been particularly effective. |
