In early 2011, the so-called ‘Arab spring‘ opened a new period of change, expectations and challenges in several North African countries. Despite of the democratic processes started in that countries, to important sectors of European media and public opinion, it seemed that Arab riots had mainly become another push factor for irregular migration to the European Union. Furthermore, the crisis management of Tunisian migrants arriving to Italy, stressed the European system of free movement of people in the Schengen area in an unthinkable way just few weeks before.

The aim of this paper is not to analyze the consequences of these events, neither in the Arab world nor in the Schengen performance. The main objective is to analyze the establishment of this migration-security nexus at the European level, and to examine how the EU deals with the security issue in relation with migration.