From the ‘Open door’ policy to the EU-Turkey deal: Media framings of German policy changes during the EU refugee ‘crisis’
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Author | Beatrix Futák-Campbell,Mira Pütz |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0047117821999413 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0047117821999413
International Relations
2022, Vol. 36(1) 61 –82
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/0047117821999413
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From the ‘Open door’ policy
to the EU-Turkey deal: Media
framings of German policy
changes during the EU
refugee ‘crisis’
Beatrix Futák-Campbell
Leiden University
Mira Pütz
European Parliament
Abstract
This article explores Angela Merkel’s decision to open Germany’s borders to refugees in September
2015 and her support for the EU-Turkey statement in March 2016. While the first policy offered
relief to refugees, the second was designed to significantly reduce the number of refugees coming
to Europe. Besides the seemingly contradictory rationale behind these two foreign policy decisions,
the role that domestic media played in Merkel’s decision to open the borders was remarkable.
The connection between media reports and public opinion has long been established, whereas
the connection between foreign policy and the media is more recent. However, the link between
all three and how they operate together is yet to be studied. By exploring these connections, we
show how foreign policy decisions can be accepted by locals within a language context that fosters
identification with outsiders. Similarly, a shift in the discourse, which contributed to the perception
of a divergence of interests between the local population and the refugees, helps to understand the
subsequent change in foreign policy. In short, we show how this shift provides an insight into the
parallels between domestic media discourses, public opinion and foreign policy decisions. We apply
deductive qualitative content analysis to demonstrate this connection.
Keywords
deductive qualitative content analysis, EU-Tukey deal, foreign policy analysis, Germany, media
discourse, migration
Corresponding author:
Beatrix Futák-Campbell, Leiden University, Anna van Buerenplein 301, The Hague, 2595DG, Netherlands.
Email: b.campbell@luc.leidenuniv.nl
999413IRE0010.1177/0047117821999413International RelationsFuták-Campbell and Pütz
research-article2021
Article
62 International Relations 36(1)
Introduction
In 2015, the most accurate figures put the number of newly arrived and registered asylum
seekers in Germany at 890,000.1 This means that out of all EU member states, Germany
received by far the largest absolute number of asylum applications in 2015, compared to
Hungary (172,000), France (71,000) and the UK (39,000).2 These numbers however,
highly underrepresent the actual number of people that arrived in the country, making the
gap between Germany and other European states significantly larger than the numbers
above suggest.3 The great majority of them arrived in the months after German Chancellor
Angela Merkel had publicly said that Germany could, would and should receive those
fleeing from war and persecution during her summer press conference on August 31,
2015.4 Two days after Merkel’s now-(in)famous words ‘Wir schaffen das’5 (‘We can do
this’), the picture of Aylan Kurdi, the drowned 2-year old boy who lay washed up on a
Turkish beach, sent ripples through Europe. The death of Aylan and events in Hungary,6
ultimately led Merkel and her Austrian counterpart to allow refugees waiting in Hungary
to pass through Austria and enter Germany by official transportation on September 4.
And yet, by the following March a deal had been struck between the EU and Turkey,
designed to limit the number of refugees reaching Europe from Turkey. Angela Merkel
played a significant role in bringing about this joint statement.7 Officially, it was described
as an important step in the fight against human traffickers, calling the return of any
‘migrants’ from Greece to Turkey a ‘temporary and extraordinary measure which is nec-
essary to end the human suffering and restore public order’.8 International and civil soci-
ety organisations, however, criticized the recognition of Turkey as a safe third country
and highlighted the negative consequences of seeking refuge there.9 Similarly, Human
Rights Watch denounced the disregard for the protection of refugees under international
law within the deal.10 This means that in approximately seven months after Angela
Merkel’s decision to open Germany’s borders to an, at least in principle, unlimited num-
ber of refugees, she played a leading role in forging the deal between the EU and Turkey
which was designed to prevent refugees from reaching the territory of EU member states.
This policy shift is notable as her strong support for this deal appears to be inconsistent
with her open-door policy, particularly with regard to human rights concerns.
German public opinion saw a similarly significant shift in this time period. In the
autumn of 2015, German cities witnessed a ‘Willkommenskultur’ (‘culture of welcome’)
as people waited to greet refugees at train stations, while government and civil society
organisations were overwhelmed with donations. Germany, however, also became the
scene of acts of violence and hatred. In 2015, the police registered 173 acts of violence
and 92 arson attacks against buildings providing accommodation for refugees.11 In addi-
tion, Angela Merkel was strongly criticised by politicians of her own party for refusing
to set a maximum number (Obergrenze) of refugees that Germany was willing to accept.
Furthermore, there was reason to perceive the German authorities as helpless, as the
bureaucratic system was unable to properly handle the immense number of refugees.
While there were no terrorist attacks in Germany committed by persons who had come
to the country as refugees until July 2016,12 police in Cologne failed to protect women
from sexual abuse at the hands of men largely of North African origin on New Year’s Eve
2015.13
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