Europe’s southern border in Lampedusa: migration, crisis and the responsibility of the European Union

This paper explores the European Union’s response to irregular migration across the Central Mediterranean, with a specific focus on the Italian island of Lampedusa as a key entry point. It examines how the EU balances border security, migration control, and humanitarian obligations within the broader framework of international humanitarian law, refugee law, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Through an analysis of EU actions including border operations, partnerships with third countries, and emergency response mechanisms, the paper investigates whether current policies genuinely protect the rights and dignity of migrants or whether they reflect a securitised and externalised approach to crisis management. Lampedusa serves as an example for understanding the broader tensions and contradictions in EU migration governance.

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Renegotiating Alliances: Trump’s America’s first foreign policy and the European Union’s quest for strategic autonomy

In light of Donald Trump’s second administration and its transactional America-first foreign policy, this paper considers the implications for European strategic autonomy amid the heightened importance of US security commitments and defence capabilities. Trump’s foreign policy is driven by the belief that Europeans have taken advantage of the US within the NATO alliance and international trade, and seeks to renegotiate trade agreements, returning manufacturing to the US and shifting its strategic orientation towards Asia. In the short term, this can constrain Europe’s strategic autonomy, as European capitals are pressured to accommodate the America-first agenda to ensure the US retains vital military capabilities in Europe and continues to provide military support to Ukraine. However, in the long term, the Trump administration’s pressure on allies to spend more on defence and a degree of ambiguity over security commitments reinforces the need for European strategic autonomy and accelerates the development of capacities that enable Europe to pursue its interests more independently.

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