Undergraduate thesis investigates the European migration crisis, which occured in 2015 and represents the largest population shift since the Second World War, with a special focus on the Balkan refugee route. The latter was established shortly after the beginning of the crisis in the area of the Western Balkans and, until its official closure in the spring of 2016, represented an important part of the Eastern Mediterranean refugee route towards the interior of the European Union. With the help of an analysis of relevant scientific literature, statistical data, official EU documents, selected newspaper articles, and using the historical – developmental method, the author defends the thesis that the European migration crisis was the result of the intertwining of various local and global socio – historical processes, which between the years 2015/16 culminated in one of the largest humanitarian disasters in modern history. Its political, economic and social consequences were felt by countries of origin and transit, as well as host countries.
|