Migration’s Structural Impact on the European Union’s Security: Institutional Assessments and Strategic Implications (2022–2025)
Migration’s Structural Impact on the European Union’s Security: Institutional Assessments and Strategic Implications (2022–2025)

Summary/Abstract: This article investigates the structural impact of migration on the European Union’s (EU) security order in the period 2022–2025, linking forced displacement from Ukraine, persistent mixed flows along key routes and the adoption of the 2024 Pact on Migration and Asylum. It argues that migration operates as an exogenous shock that accelerates “high-level” integration whenever perceived loss of control reaches a critical political threshold. Mobilizing insights from migration studies, european integration theory and securitization approaches, the article conceptualizes EU migration governance as a multi-layered regime that combines human-security objectives with hybrid-security logics. Empirically, it examines three dimensions: the immediate response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, centered on the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive and the Strategic Compass; the datadriven management of evolving routes and risks, including the role of EU agencies and interoperable IT systems; and the legal–institutional consolidation brought by the Pact, with its permanent solidarity mechanism, expanded border procedures and crisis tools. The analysis shows how this hybrid security of migration simultaneously strengthens the EU’s capacity to act as a security provider and institutionalizes exceptional governance at the borders, thereby reconfiguring the balance between border control, solidarity and fundamental rights.

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