European Student Think Tank

Since Decem­ber 2010, hardly a day goes by without news of the Arab upris­ings. No won­der – such rad­ical changes can­not be achieved in a couple of days or months. Des­pite the count­less inno­cent vic­tims, the inter­na­tional com­munity and the UN find it hard to dis­solve the prob­lem­atic situ­ation, which now cli­maxes in Syria. The EU, as a neigh­bour, could not remain unin­volved in such a ter­rible situ­ation, which also “endangers” its interests and its coher­ent policies.

A few days ago, Italy expressed the wish to sta­tion police officers of their own at the Tunisian shore. The reason is quite simple: a massive inflow of migrants fled Tunisia and arrived at the small island of Lampedusa. Res­ult: tur­moil on the islet. The Italian pro­posal to com­bat this tur­moil might seem a bit strange at a first glance, but isn’t entirely new. Below you’ll find an explanation.