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The Gatekeeper’s Gambit: SYRIZA, Left Populism and the European Migration Crisis – The policies of the Greek government influenced the direction that EU integration seems to be taking.

Working Paper by Antonios A. Nestoras

28.12.2015


In examining the transformation and evolution of populist discourse against European integration, the Greek case is exceptionally significant. Not only because Greece is the only European country where radical parties managed to form a government; not only because this government is a showcase of a classic left-right populist alliance (SYRIZA’s junior coalition partner is ANEL, a far right nationalist party); but mostly because the policies of the Greek government influenced the direction that EU integration seems to be taking. SYRIZA’s gambit in the migration crisis has provoked an EU reaction (which was not necessarily a retribution, but) which took stock of the vulnerabilities of common European policy – in this case concerning migration control and border and crisis management.

Antonios Nestoras is a doctoral researcher in European Foreign and Security Policy at the Institute for European Studies of Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Previously, he served as Parliamentary Assistant for Members of the European Parliament and before that he was a policy advisor in the ALDE Group, responsible for inter-institutional relations and networking. Antonios has also held positions with the EPP Groups and the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies. He holds a BA in International and European, Economic and Political Studies (University of Macedonia - Thessaloniki, Greece) and a MA in International Relations and Diplomacy (Leiden Universiteit, Netherlands).

Contact

Email: antonios.nestoras@vub.ac.be
Address: Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels



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The Gatekeeper’s Gambit: SYRIZA, Left Populism and the European Migration Crisis (Dec 2015)

Revised version (March 2016)


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