The populist framing of the Russia-Ukraine war by the Hungarian government: convergence or contestation in the EU

ABSTRACT

This study examines how the Hungarian government frames the Russia-Ukraine war within the context of its relations with the European Union (EU) using discourse historical strand of critical discourse analysis (CDA). This study will also answer how the Hungarian government presents its own policy choices as if the will of the people in its dealings with the EU. The study will conduct an extensive qualitative frame analysis of political discourses produced by Hungarian government officials. Through this analysis, the current study contributes to the literature empirically and advances the debates revolving around crises leading to contestation between the EU and its member states. The performed analysis demonstrates that the war is communicated mainly through the ‘Hungarian (government) lenses’ of national security concerns and national economic interests, both constructed upon nationalist sentiments coupled with populist overtones, leading Hungary to contest the EU’s decisions and norms.

KEYWORDS:

• EU
• Hungary
• Russia-Ukraine war
• populism
• critical discourse analysis

Acknowledgegments

We are grateful to editors, Ioannis N. Grigoriadis and Ümit Erol Aras as well as the guest editors of the special issue, Ali Onur Özçelik, Kadri Kaan Renda and Anthony Costello for their unwavering support throughout the publication process. We also would like to thank anonymous reviewers and editors for their extensive comments and suggestions. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Jean Monnet Networking Project known as ‘Linking to Europe at the Periphery’ (LEAP) Conference of ‘Contesting Europe at the Periphery’ (Eskişehir, 2022). We extend our gratitude to the discussants and participants of the conference for their feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melek Aylin Özoflu

Melek Aylin Özoflu is a PhD.Research Fellow at Özyeğin University, Department of International Relations in İstanbul, Türkiye. She also conducts post-doctoral research at ELTE University, Faculty of Law, Institute of Political Science in Budapest,Hungary. She earned her PhD in Political Science and International Relations from Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary with summa cum laude distinction by defending her dissertation entitled ‘Discursive Construction of the European Identity in Germany during the Euro and Refugee Crises of the EU’ in April 2023. She holds an MSc in European studies from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara Turkey. Her main research areas focus on critical discourse analysis, identity politics, European identity, European politics and EU crises. She has various articles published and in the press in these fields. Her recent publication ‘Construction of European Identity by the Pro-European Parties’ has been published by the Journal of International Relations.

Krisztina Arató

Krisztina Arató is a full professor and director at ELTE University, Faculty of Law, Institute of Political Science in Budapest, Hungary. She studied history at ELTE University in Budapest and political science at the Victoria University of Manchester, England. She wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on the social dialogue system of the EU at Corvinus University, Budapest. She was the president of the Hungarian Political Science Association 2015-2021. Her research interests are history and theories of European integration, and civil and social dialogue. She authored and edited textbooks about the European Union (The Voyage of Europe with Boglárka Koller, in Hungarian, the Political System of the European Union, co-edited with Boglárka Koller, both in Hungarian) and recently co-edited the volume, The Political Economy of the Eurozone in Central and Eastern Europe Why In, Why Out? (Routledge, 2021).