European Union’s stance on the Belarus-European Union border migrant crisis compared to the 2015-16 migrant crisis

Abstract

European Union has recently faced two migrant crises, 2015-16 migrant crisis in which estimated 1,4 million migrants made their way into Europe and the European Union-Belarus border crisis in which at least 40 000 migrants had tried tried crossing into EU by the late November of 2021. The objective of this thesis is to analyse both migrant crises in a comparative manner to find out if European Union has been able to learn from its past mistakes and used its know-how in dealing with the European Union-Belarus crisis. Author compares his finding with three theories: Normative Power Europe, Europeanization and Institutional Learning, to better understand European Union’s actions. The findings of this research were supported by statements and press releases from European Commissions and Councils websites in which different officials talked about both crises. The analysis concluded that European Union has been able to learn from its past mistakes, as the Union was quicker to act and more unified when dealing with the European Union-Belarus crisis. Author also concluded that the general plan of action for European Union when dealing with crisis is ”out of sight, out of mind.”