The Use of Military Forces in the Protection of the Borders and Prevention of Irregular Migrations–Case Study of selected SEE Countries

The Use of Military Forces in the Protection of the Borders and Prevention of Irregular Migrations–Case Study of selected SEE Countries

The 2015 refugee waves to Europe were a humanitarian, legal, moral and logistical crisis. Those circumstances arose ideas to call upon armies to serve at borders. This paper will analyze all elements of the refugee crisis that could legitimate or deny the use of military forces in protection of state borders. More precisely, there are international obligations for governments to protect refugees and to provide security for its citizens. In an age of terrorist threats, roles of the police and military are shifting in an unknown direction, but those international obligations remain the same. The Refugee crisis challenged not only international law, but also EU policies and ethical principles. Possible solutions were to accept all refugees or to close borders, and somewhere in between those solutions army was considered as a tool. Many have emphasized that there is no place for military personnel at state borders with or without the refugee inflow. That is why in this paper it will be examined what are the arguments for that "military ban". Furthermore, after a thorough analysis a comprehensive answer to the legal, moral and logistical legitimacy of army at borders use will be offered. With that conclusion, Hungarian, Slovenian and Croatian legislative will be commented and compared. Specially, having in mind possible future problems that could arise from differences in their legislative linked to migration and refugee inflows that may occur.