The article discusses the lockdown of the EU’s internal borders during the Covid-19 pandemic in Finland. Special attention is paid to bordering as a means of disease control and the governments’ aim to “protect the population and secure functions of society”. Not only did the government restrict flights and ‘non-essential’ travel from non-Schengen countries such as Russia, China and Thailand but, with some exceptions, it also restricted travel-to-work commuting and everyday cross-border encounters between Finland and its Schengen neighbours of Sweden, Norway and Estonia. The restrictions hampered tourism and migrant-dependent industries as well as complicated the lives of migrants’ families. While the lockdown of the Estonian and Russian border does not cause any debates in Finnish society, the closure of the Finnish-Swedish border that has been completely open since the 1950s and the new regime led to a debate of citizens’ constitutional rights and to civil disobedience that materialised in semi-legal border crossings.
German Foreign Policy in Middle East in XXI Century ENTINA E., SMIRNOVA A. The role of the Diaspora in the formation and the development of Russia's "soft power " in modern Serbia KRYUCHKOV I. Main Areas of Collaboration Between the Check Republic and Azerbaijan FALTSMAN V., KRAKHINA M. Analysis and Forecast on Whether Russia Will Integrate into and Converge with the World Economy FEDOROV M. EU and Crisis Management: Adaptation to New Challenges IVANTSOV A. The main stages and preconditions for post-Soviet integration of Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus VLASOVA K., GOVOROVA N. Socioeconomic Situation in Greece 2008-2018: Results and Prospects KOPYTIN I. European and American Supermajors: Business Models Transformation ANDREEVA L., SMIRNOV M., SHCHERBAKOV V. The process of De-Christianization in the European Union VIRKKUNEN J., GADZHIMURADOVA G. Migration, extremism and terrorist threat in the Nordic countries SCHWEIZER W. Austria in the Soviet geopolitical calculations (middle 30s-early 40s) REVIEWS SCHOLARLY LIFE INHALT KAWESCHNIKOV N. Großbritannien und die Europäische Union: eine lange Geschichte der Scheidung. Artikel 1. Die Europäische Frage KANDEL P. Was Neues enthält die Strategie der EU auf dem Westbalkan? KUZNETSOV W., OGANISJAN L. Dilemmas der Demokratisierung: Politik der Europäischen Union in Tunesien und Ägypten nach dem Arabischen Erwachen PAWLOV N., KHDERI. Nahostfaktor der Außenpolitik der BRD ENTINA E., SMIRNOVA A. Rolle der Diaspora in der Generierung und Entwicklung von "soft power" Russlands im modernen Serbien KRJUTSCHKOV I. Hauptrichtlinien der Entwicklung der Kooperation der Tschechischen Republik mit Aserbaidschan 2008-2017 FALZMAN W., KRACHINA M. Analyse und Aussichte der Integration und Konvergenz Russlands in die Weltwirtschaft FJODOROV M. Die EU und Regelung der regionalen Konflikte und Krisen: Anpassung an neue Herausforderungen IWANTSOV A. Hauptetappen und Voraussetzungen der postsowjetischen Integration der Russischen Föderation und der Republik Belarus
Russia is one of the world’s largest migrant-receiving countries. The recession of recent years, changes in labor market and immigration policies, and an increase in anti-foreign sentiment have directly affected immigrants’ lives in Russia. This has been reflected not only in how immigrants find employment and housing in the country but also in how they perceive Russia as a country in which to work and live. This article analyzes remigration as a coping strategy of Afghan immigrants in Russia. These immigrants face severe everyday difficulties as irregular migrants and suffer discrimination and uncertainty. Despite their low status and vulnerability, we argue that Afghan immigrants still have agency, evident in how they interpret and live in the Russian anti-immigrant atmosphere. The article is based on stories narrated by Afghan immigrants in Russia and a qualitative content analysis of the asylum application protocols of Afghan asylum seekers in Finland that was produced by the Finnish Border Guard, Police, and the Finnish Immigration Service. A total of 632 Afghan citizens applied for asylum after entering Finland from the Russian Federation along the “Arctic route” between 2015 and 2016.
Vuosina 2015–2016 Suomeen tuli yli 30 000 turvapaikanhakijaa erityisesti Lähi-Idästä ja eri Aasian ja Afrikan maista. Pieni osa heistä tuli niin sanottua arktista reittiä Pohjois-Venäjältä. Heistä neljäsosa oli Venäjällä asuneita maahanmuuttajia. Keskitymme tähän muuttoliikkeeseen Venäjällä asuneiden afrikkalaisten maahanmuuttajien näkökulmasta. Keitä afrikkalaistaustaiset Venäjällä ovat, ja keitä olivat arktisen reitin afrikkalaiset? Syyt maastamuuton ja arktisen reitin taustalla nostavat esiin turvallisuuden moniulotteisuuden kansainvälisissä muuttoliikkeissä. Turvapaikanhakijoiden vaikea asema Venäjällä nivoutui monenlaiseen arjen turvattomuuteen ja rasismiin, määritteli muuttopäätöksiä ja siirtyi myös salakuljettajien avustuksella Suomen Schengen rajalle valtion turvallisuuteen liittyviksi kysymyksiksi rajojen hallinnasta. Tutkimus perustuu arktisen reitin Venäjällä asuneiden afrikkalaisten turvapaikkahakemuspöytäkirjoihin sekä Venäjän afrikkalaisia ja maahanmuuttopolitiikkaa käsittelevään tutkimuskirjallisuuteen
Abstract. The feeling of 'home' and 'ontological security' are central in social and psychological integration of both migrants and local residents. In Russia, for most Central Asian migrants the feeling of 'home' is often in clear contradiction with daily practices in Russia. The tightening economic situation, collapse of the rouble and the ambivalent migration legislation, of course, affect the integration of migrants and a feeling of security in the new countries of residence.
The formerly socialist East European countries have undergone extensive political and territorial changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. This transformation has largely been associated with two simultaneous developments in the post-socialist states: nationalisation and European integration. The concept of post-socialist borderland underlines the scope and effect of post-socialist identity politics in the countries applying for EU membership, and also points at the dramatically changing political map of Europe.In discussions about the ongoing European integration, stability is expected to emerge through inclusive arrangements. It has generally been thought that political accommodation is not at issue at the future internal or external borders of the EU. However, the European enlargement project faces severe problems as nationalisation and European integration represent contradictory tendencies in post-socialist democratisation and European stabilisation.This article discusses the role that borderlands play in balancing between national and European goals. The evolving European integration is examined from the vantage point of the states applying for membership. Particular attention is paid to the contextual basis of political argumentation, the structural politics of the European Union, and the nationally sensitive elements of the nation-state. The example of the Estonian/Russian borderlands represents a 'post-socialist' condition, within which old loyalties of the past meet contemporary socio-economic and political realities, threats and future expectations. These issues seem to influence considerably the formation of 'common European goals' in the enlarged European Union.
Abstract. Europe experienced an unprecedented peak in asylum seekers in 2015. Over a million asylum seekers entered the European Union across the Mediterranean Sea and travelled by all means of transport, including by foot, from South to Central and Northern parts of the EU. This "migration crisis" became to define much of the political-territorial atmosphere in the continent with severe impacts on the European security but, significantly, also to the way countries communicated migration related threat images into desires for re-bordering.Towards the end of 2015 and early 2016, a bit strange episode happened up in the North, when asylum seekers travelled to Northern Norway and Finland through Russian Federation. Despite locating very far from the Mediterranean and Balkan routes to Europe, the Russian North appeared to become part of so-called Arctic route to the Schengen area with over 7000 African, Middle-Eastern and Asian asylum seekers. Due to the history of very strict border management and control, very few illegal border crossings and extremely distant location, the "Arctic route episode" to Norway and Finland became matters of security in many ways.After describing the overall character of this "Arctic route episode", we will analyse different perspectives to migration related security. A particular attention will be paid to Finland, Finnish border management and foreign citizens who applied for asylum at one of the "Eastern" border crossing points (Salla or Raja-Jooseppi) in Northern Finland. The Finnish-Russian case illustrates well the networkedbut still rather specific -migratory processes in Europe. The public discussion on the episode expresses well many of the international political fears and threats migration poses for those who actually are on the move.
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