Federica Zardo

I am very happy to share that for the next eight months I’ll be a Visiting Fellow at the @ceu-polsci.bsky.social CEU Political Science Department.
Looking forward to being part of the department’s life, to the conversations ahead on my research and to the work happening in and beyond the department.

That‘s what I call big news! 😉 🤩

I am thrilled and honored to have been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant #ERCCoG to investigate how political actors respond to ethical dilemmas of migration governance.

Look out for vacancy announcements soon!

@demigkrems.bsky.social

@demigkrems.bsky.social

Still a few days to apply to the Section on EU borders, migration and mobility at the #SGEU26 @ecprsgeu.bsky.social conference in wonderful Catania next July, chaired by Stefania Panebianco and me! More info here 👇🏻

EU Borders, Migration and Mobility 13th Biennial Conference of the Standing Group on the European Union, 1 – 3 July 2026, Università di Catania

🌍 #SGEU26 @ecprsgeu.bsky.social Section seeking Panels
🛣️ EU Borders, Migration and Mobility
🪑 Stefania Panebianco & @federicazardo.bsky.social
⌛⬇️ Deadline: 10 Dec buff.ly/pyNdgDQ

#EU #CallforProposals #Polisky

Great discussions yesterday at #EMNAustria2025 with @austria.iom.int A lot of food for thoughts on the future of migration governance but also of international cooperation more broadly.

Sometimes you leave a conference with just a few notes, sometimes with many ideas, and sometimes with empty hands. But sometimes, you walk away with both ideas and emotions.

Thank you, escapes.unimi.it/archivio-con..., for this beautiful experience, and ActionAid Italia, for inviting me.

Protesting over Gaza’s starvation feels like screaming into a void – but we mustn’t stop | Nesrine Malik Political platitudes and a few trucks of aid won’t save the children dying now. But they show leaders can’t ignore public opinion for ever, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

Protesting over Gaza’s starvation feels like screaming into a void – but we mustn’t stop | Nesrine Malik

An origami bird folded from a 500-euro banknote sits among green leaves on a branch. | © butenkow / Adobe Stock

💶 New on scilog:
How does EU funding shape migration policy? The project MigFund reveals a growing focus on border control and externalization.

🗃️ The research is led by political scientist Federica Zardo (@federicazardo.bsky.social).

📖 Read more: scilog.fwf.ac.at/en/magazine/...

Was EU-Fördermittel über Europas Migrationspolitik verraten Die EU setzt migrationspolitische Maßnahmen unter anderem in Form von Fördergeldern. Die Politikwissenschaftlerin Federica Zardo nimmt den Weg des Geldes unter die Lupe. Ihre Analyse zeigt: Der Fokus ...

Die EU setzt migrationspolitische Maßnahmen u.a. mit Fördergeldern. Politikwissenschaftlerin @federicazardo.bsky.social zeigte, dass sich der Fokus in Richtung Abschottung & Auslagerung an Drittstaaten verschiebt. #Migrationspolitik #scilog @unikrems.bsky.social

scilog.fwf.ac.at/magazin/was-...

@demigkrems.bsky.social @fwf-at.bsky.social

Why does this matter?
It allows to:
• Track shifts in funding priorities over time
• Compare internal vs. external funding
• Link budget decisions to policy goals
• Explore trends in how migration is framed & funded
It’s grounded in the approach discussed here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Measures are grouped by sub-policy areas like:
• Border & land management
• Return and readmission
• Legal migration & mobility
• Protection
• Migration-development

What’s in it?
For each entry (an objective associated with a committed amount), MigFund records:
- Budget commitment
- Target groups & regions
- General and specific objectives
- Implementation details
- A “restrictiveness” score (open ↔ restrictive)

🚨 The full MigFund database is now publicly available.
It covers EU funding for migration and asylum from 2000 to 2023, across both internal and external programmes.
1,700+ funding measures.
All major instruments, from AMIF to EUTF.
You can download it here: zenodo.org/records/1568...

@demigkrems.bsky.social

If at this point you’re still saying that this is remotely related to antisemitism or viewpoint diversity, you are part of the problem.

Now out and #openaccess in Geopolitics: "Beyond the Internal-External Policy Divide: How the EU Communicates on Migration" by Caterina Carta, Federica Zardo & Mattia Sguazzini
@mattiasguazzini.bsky.social @federicazardo.bsky.social
Download and read for free:

Harvard University Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally.

Boom. Harvard University unveils a fresh website entirely focusing on its impact on society.

Magnificent, yet long overdue. Thanks Donald!
www.harvard.edu

Wow, very well done!

We also make all our data available: full dataset + replication material. 📂 check it out!

7/9 Institutional communication on migration is strategic, segmented and often competing. It tells a lot about how the EU sees itself, and it wants to be seen.
Who speaks really matters.

6/9 Our argument: the internal/external policy divide does not hold up discursively, but proximity to "the crisis" and institutional logics still shape communication, despite more collaboration across institutions.

5/9 And when it's symbolic (like on the international migrants' day?)
Migration is part of our identity, values and solidarity. Complex topics like return or integration are carefully sidestepped. Unity in discourse, but selective.

4/9 When the crisis is far away: migration is a foreign policy issue, not an internal threat.
Border management is absent.
EEAS: diplomacy, solidarity, multilateralism.

3/9 When the focus in on the Neighbourhood:
DG Home: border control, first line of defence.
EEAS/HR: human dignity, root causes.

2/9 Drawing on 50k+ institutional EU documents (2010-2021), we show how internal and external migration policies are narrated differently by actors like the EEAS, DG Home, DG Near or DG Intpa.

1/9 We ask: how do different EU institutions frame migration? Do they speak with one voice? Or do they tell different stories depending on who's doing the talking - and to whom?

Beyond the Internal-External Policy Divide: How the EU Communicates on Migration Focusing on statements produced by the European External Action Service and several Commissioners, this paper explores how various institutional actors conceive of and discuss migration policies. I...

New open access article out in @geopoliticsjournal.bsky.social Beyond the internal-external policy divide: how the EU communicates on migration by Caterina Carta, @mattiasguazzini.bsky.social and me! Read here 👇and a short thread 🧵 below!

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....