Zur De/Konstruktion des Ostens als Sicherheitsbedrohung

The old member states responded ambivalently to the elimination of border controls as part of the expansion of the Schengen Agreement. Compensatory measures were immediately called for since removing the borders to the Eastern European states conjured up old fears and images of the »East« as a breeding ground for cross-border crime. Considering the concept of securitization, this paper examines the question of how security policy makers, security practitioners, and the tabloid press in Austria react to the challenges of Schengen expansion, 2007, and argues that the construct of security threats can be instrumentalized by various actors.