The refugee question in Europe: 'south' vs 'east'

Humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees at Idomeni, Greece, August, 2015. Demotix/Giorgios Christakis. All rights reserved.The refugee waves from war-torn territories remain an ongoing and vivid reality across Europe. Since early autumn, Greece has been cooperating steadily with the EC and Frontex towards the establishment of five ‘hotspots’ for the initial registration and relocation of refugees (i.e. in the islands of Chios, Leros, Kos, Samos and Lesbos along the Turkish coastline). According to the EC guidelines, only migrants of the following nationalities are eligible for relocation to other EU member-states: Syrians, Eritreans, Afghans, Somalis and Iraqis.

On the macro-political level, the relocation process has spurred inter-state tensions. A series of EU member-states from Central Europe (e.g. Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic) have accused Greek authorities of unjustifiable and inexplicable hastiness in the relocation of refugees to the north. Even more emphatically, Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico and the Czech President Miloš Zeman openly called for Greece to be expelled from the Schengen zone unless Athens demonstrates acute responsibility and accountability during the relocation.

On its part, the Greek government protested that while some are setting up ‘hotspots’ for refugees, others are erecting barbwire fences and engaging into anti-refugee demagogy. Primary attention will be paid to the following questions: Why have so many political actors throughout Central and Eastern Europe capitalized on an ostensibly anti-refugee rhetoric? Do the, either lenient or negative, stances towards the refugee question interweave with the various shades of Euroscepticism across the Continent and how?