You can go your own way: How transit-country migration attitudes are influenced by European Union ideals
Session
Political Science
Description
Balkan countries aspiring to membership in the European Union (EU) typically provide the region with soft border control, housing or repulsing migrants who had hoped to reach Western Europe. These policies can be unpopular domestically, especially compared to the third option of ignoring migrants and letting them travel on their way. To justify providing such migration management, transit-country governments attribute their policy choices to a combination of European values and mandates imposed by European organizations. Do their constituents respond to such externalized attributions of responsibility? Relying on cellphone samples collected using random digit dialing (RDD) in Albania and Kosovo during winter 2018-19, we test whether reminding respondents of EU expectations actually sways transit-country public opinion. We find that an EU-oriented framing does increase Balkan support for pro-refugee policies somewhat, but does not necessarily increase the relative willingness to house the migrants. If anything, an EU message sympathetic toward refugees can increase the temptation to let migrants travel on their way, accentuating the oft-noted underlying tension between perceived European security interests and the EU’s publicized ideals.
Proceedings Editor
Edmond Hajrizi
ISBN
978-9951-550-47-5
Location
UBT Kampus, Lipjan
Start Date
30-10-2021 12:00 AM
End Date
30-10-2021 12:00 AM
DOI
10.33107/ubt-ic.2021.245
Recommended Citation
Morina, Dastid; Peshkopia, Ridvan; and Voss, Stephen, "You can go your own way: How transit-country migration attitudes are influenced by European Union ideals" (2021). UBT International Conference. 255.
https://knowledgecenter.ubt-uni.net/conference/2021UBTIC/all-events/255
You can go your own way: How transit-country migration attitudes are influenced by European Union ideals
UBT Kampus, Lipjan
Balkan countries aspiring to membership in the European Union (EU) typically provide the region with soft border control, housing or repulsing migrants who had hoped to reach Western Europe. These policies can be unpopular domestically, especially compared to the third option of ignoring migrants and letting them travel on their way. To justify providing such migration management, transit-country governments attribute their policy choices to a combination of European values and mandates imposed by European organizations. Do their constituents respond to such externalized attributions of responsibility? Relying on cellphone samples collected using random digit dialing (RDD) in Albania and Kosovo during winter 2018-19, we test whether reminding respondents of EU expectations actually sways transit-country public opinion. We find that an EU-oriented framing does increase Balkan support for pro-refugee policies somewhat, but does not necessarily increase the relative willingness to house the migrants. If anything, an EU message sympathetic toward refugees can increase the temptation to let migrants travel on their way, accentuating the oft-noted underlying tension between perceived European security interests and the EU’s publicized ideals.