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The European migration crisis is one of the greatest transnational challenges the EU has faced recently. This dissertation contributes to the ex-post dialogue by focusing specifically on two transit countries for migrations - Croatia and Slovenia. To understand these challenges, we began with a literature review of three areas: 1) crisis management of the migration crisis, 2) small (EU) states, and 3) EU multi-level governance. This interdisciplinary approach supported the multiple case study method, which included a thorough review of secondary literature, assessing the level of preparedness to respond to a transboundary crisis, and conducting one-on-one interviews with relevant stakeholders. We then conducted a comparative analysis and created a strategic roadmap for holistically addressing future crises. The findings show that there was a lack of a holistic strategy to address the migration crisis and that the early warning function was very weak, leading to ad-hoc work by actors and stakeholders. The EU response was late and insufficient, leaving migration pressures in individual countries and creating tensions in multi-level governance across borders and sectors. The main academic contribution is that it comprehensively addresses the response by developing an interdisciplinary methodology. Practical implications include crisis response analysis, capacity assessment, shortfall analysis, and strategic roadmap development. Limitations of the research refer to both data collection due to language barriers or data accessibility and data analysis due to the isolation of the migration peak, the parallel study of all levels of government, and the selection of only two states and only one crisis. The dissertation maintains its originality and adds value particularly through its interdisciplinary approach that assesses the complexity of the crisis from a national perspective, provides a numerical assessment of crisis management capacity, and offers a strategic roadmap for future potential crises. Evropska migracijska kriza predstavlja enega največjih čezmejnih izzivov v zadnjem času. Pri razumevanju tega disertacija prispeva k razumevanju vloge majhnih tranzitnih držav s študijo primera Hrvaške in Slovenije. Metodološko smo najprej opravili pregled literature na treh področjih: 1) krizno upravljanje migracijske krize, 2) majhne države (EU) in 3) večnivojsko upravljanje. Ta interdisciplinarni pristop je podprl metodo študije primerov, ki je vključevala pregled sekundarne literature, ocenjevanje pripravljenosti in odziva na čezmejno krizo ter izvajanje polstrukturiranih individualnih intervjujev z ustreznimi akterji in deležniki. Nato smo izvedli primerjalno analizo in oblikovali strateški načrt za celostno reševanje bodočih kriz. Ugotovili smo, da so vključeni akterji in deležniki v odsotnosti celostne strategije za reševanje migracijske krize in šibkosti funkcije zgodnjega opozarjanja nacionalne ravni na način ad-hoc urejali logistične in druge potrebne naloge. Zaradi poznega in nezadostnega odziva EU so bili migracijski pritiski omejeni na nacionalne nivoje, kar je pripomoglo k napetostim pri večnivojskem upravljanju. Ključni znanstveni prispevek je celovita obravnava kriznega odzivanja z razvojem interdisciplinarne metodologije, praktične implikacije pa so analiza odziva na krizo, ocena zmogljivosti, analiza pomanjkljivosti in priprava strateškega načrta. Omejitve disertacije so pričakovane tako pri zbiranju podatkov zaradi jezikovnih ovir ali dostopnosti podatkov kot tudi pri analizi podatkov zaradi izolacije vrha krize, vzporedne študije vseh ravni upravljanja ter izbire samo dveh držav in le ene krize. Izvirnost in vrednost disertacije je zlasti v interdisciplinarnem pristopu, ki ocenjuje kompleksnost krize z nacionalnega vidika, nudi numerično oceno zmogljivosti kriznega odziva in ponuja strateški načrt za prihodnje morebitne krize.