Immigration and Its Impact on Greek Foreign Policy

Abstract

International immigration has long been considered part of the “low politics” agenda and thus peripheral to international relations scholarship. In Greece, migration emerged during the 1990s as an important national security issue. The paper examines the real and perceived impact of migration (especially illegal migration) on Greek foreign policy. A closer look at how migration shapes the contemporary foreign policy and security agendas may help argue that the migration “wave” recently experienced in Greece has led to the construction of new perceptions of threat as well as the development of a new discourse on Greece's international role and identity. Migration also has influenced decisively Greek foreign policy agenda. Migration has also significantly altered its external priorities and objectives.