The Populist Challenge to Normative and Geopolitical Europe

Year 2024, Volume: 23 Issue: Özel Sayı-Future of Europe: Reflections from Türkiye, 13 - 42, 27.03.2024

İbrahim Saylan Müge Aknur

https://doi.org/10.32450/aacd.1440721

Abstract

Populism has become a remarkable political force in contemporary European politics. Most populist parties in Europe currently have radical right leanings and stand for sovereigntism, nativism, and authoritarianism. Either in government or opposition, these parties have had various impacts on liberal democratic systems both nationally and supranationally. Drawing on the concept of geopolitical European power, the European Union has been in search of effective responses to current challenges, including populism. This research aims at grasping the populist challenge in terms of its impacts on European politics within the broader context of normative versus geopolitical European power debate. Our research shows that populism has not only corroded normative European power but has also turned into an obstacle to the EU’s aspirations for geopolitical European power.

Keywords

Populism, Geopolitical Europe, Sovereigntism, Authoritarianism, Nativism

References

• “A Strategic Compass for Security and Defence.” Strategic Compass. Access Date: April 15, 2023. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/strategiccompass _en3_web.pdf.
• Abts Koen and Stefan Rummens. “Populism versus Democracy,” Political Studies 55, no. 6 (2007): 405-424.
• “AfD leader faces legal action for saying ‘camel driver’ Turks should ‘go back to where they belong.’” The Local, February 15, 2018. Access Date: January 30, 2023. https://www.thelocal.de/20180215/afd-leader-calls-turks-camel-drivers-who-should-go-back-to-where-they-belong.
• Albertazzi, Daniele and Duncan McDonnell. Populists in Power. New York: Routledge, 2015.
• Alemanno Alberto and Adam Mouyal. “‘The Borrell Doctrine,’ A Conversation with the HRVP.” groupe d’etudes geopolitiques, October 31, 2022. Access Date: April 19, 2023. https://geopolitique.eu/en/2022/10/31/a-conversation-with-josep-borrell/.
• Ammer Margit and Lando Kirchmair. “The Restriction of Refugee Rights during the ÖVP-FPÖ Coalition 2017-2019 in Austria.” In Migrants’ Rights, Populism and Legal Resilience in Europe, editors Vladislava Stoyanova and Stijn Smet, 284-285. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022.
• Art, David. “The AfD and the End of Containment in Germany.” German Politics & Society 36, no 2 (2018): 6-86.
• Balfour, Rosa. “The Resistable Rise of Populism in Europe and Its Impact on European and International Cooperation.” IEMed Mediterranean Yearbook, 2017. Access Date: March 12, 2023. https://www.iemed.org/publication/the-resistable-rise-of-populism-in-europe-and-its-impact-on-european-and-international-cooperation/.
• Barigazzi, Jacopo et al., “Migration mutiny: EU summit deadlocks.” Politico, June 06, 2023. Access Date: March 23, 2023. https://www.politico.eu/article/euco-council-eu-viktor-orban-charles-michel-hungary-poland-migration-mutiny-eu-summit-deadlocks/.
• Bayer Lili and Camille Gijs. “European Parliament brands Hungary as ‘no longer a democracy’.” Politico, September 15, 2022. Access Date: February 04, 2023. https://www.politico.eu/article/viktor-orban-rule-of-law-european-parliament-brands -hungary-as-no-longer-a-democracy/.
• Betz Hans-George and Carol Johnson, “Against the Current- Stemming the Tide: The Nostalgic Ideology of the Contemporary Radical Populist Right.” Journal of Political Ideologies 9, no 3, (2004): 311-327.
• Biscop, Sven. “The Dangerous Geopolitics of Populism, and What NATO and the EU Can Do About It,” Egmont Institute, Security Policy Brief no.97. May 2018. Access Date: May 10, 2023. http://aei.pitt.edu/94373/1/SPB97.pdf.
• Borrell Fontelles, Josep. “Europe in the Interregnum: Our Geopolitical Awakening after Ukraine.” European Union External Action, March 24, 2022. Access Date: April 17, 2023. https://www.eeas.europa.eu /eeas/europe-interregnum-our-geopolitical-awakening-after-ukraine_en.
• Brack, Nathalie, Ramona Coman, Amendine Crespy. “Sovereignty conflicts in the European Union.” Dans Les Cahiers du Cevipol no 4 (2019): 3-30.
• Chassany, Anne-Sylvaine. “France’s National Front taps into rising anti-immigrant mood.” Financial Times, September 6, 2015. Access Date: January 30, 2023. https://www.ft.com/content/62131206-5473-11e5-8642-453585f2cfcd.
• Çilingir, Sevgi. “The Covid-19 Crisis: Opportunity or Threat for Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe?.” Anadolu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 21, no 3 (2021): 805-826.
• de Lange, Sarah, “A New Winning Formula? The Programmatic Appeal of the Radical Right.” Party Politics 13, no 4 (2007): 411-435.
• Diez, Thomas. “The EU in a Changing World Order: In Defence of Normative Power 2.0.” Marmara Üniversitesi Avrupa Topluluğu Enstitüsü Avrupa Araştırmaları Dergisi 29, no 1 (2021): 1-20.
• “Dutch senate passes law enabling partial 'burqa ban'.” Reuters, June 26, 2018. Access Date: February 03, 2023. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-burqa-ban-idUSKBN1JM1I7.
• “Enforcement of the EU Law.” EUR-Lex. Access Date: March 23, 2023. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/glossary/enforcement-of-eu-law.html.
• European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs. Access Date: March 22, 2023. https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and-asylum/irregular-migration-and-return/return-and-readmission_en.
• “Europe’s Moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation.” European Commission. Access Date: March 15, 2023. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_940.
• Fagan, Moira and Laura Clancy. “Among right-wing populists, favorable views of Russia and Putin are down sharply.” Pew Research Center, September 23, 2022. Access Date: May 10, 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/09/23/among-european-right-wing-populists-favorable-views-of-russia-and-putin-are-down-sharply/.
• “Freedom in the World 2023: Hungary.” Freedom House. Access Date: February 04, 2023. https://freedomhouse.org/country/hungary/freedom-world/2023.
• Fraser, Alex. “How will Italian PM Meloni's anti-immigration stance evolve in 2023?.” CGTN, December 26, 2022. Access Date: February 02, 2023. https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-26/How-will-Italian-PM-Meloni-s-anti-immigration-stance-evolve-in-2023--1g59e9AJHws/index.html.
• Giuffrida, Angela. “Italian Government approves Salvini Bill targeting Migrants.” Guardian, September 24, 2018. Access Date: February 02, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/24/italian-government-approves-bill-anti-migrant-measures-matteo-salvini
• Gozdziak, Elzbieta M. “Using Fear of the “Other,” Orban Reshapes Migration Policy in a Hungary Built on Cultural Diversity.” Migration Policy Institute, October 10, 2019. Access Date: February 03, 2023. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/orban-reshapes-migration-policy-hungary.
• Grimm, Robert. “The Rise of the German Eurosceptic Party Alternative für Deutschland, Between Ordoliberal Critique and Popular Anxiety.” International Political Science Review 36, no 3 (2015): 264-278.
• Gower Melanie et al. “UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership.” UK Parliament House of Commons Library, December 20, 2022. Access Date: March 22, 2023. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9568/.
• Guibernau, Montserrat. “Migration and the Rise of the Radical Right – Social Malaise vs the Failure of Mainstream Politics.” Policy Network Paper, London (2010). Henke Marina and Richard Mayer. “The Populist Challenge to European Defense”. Journal of European Public Policy, 28, no: 3 (2021): 389-406.
• Henley Jon and Jennifer Rankin. “‘Frexit in all but name’: what a Marine Le Pen win would mean for EU.” The Guardian, April 15, 2022. Access Date: February 6, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/15/frexit-what-marine-le-pen-win-mean-eu.
• Ivaldi, Gilles. “Contesting the EU in times of Crisis: The Front National and Politics of Euroscepticism in France.” Politics, 38, no. 3 (2018): 278-294.
• Ivaldi, Gilles. “The Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War on Radical-Wing Populism in France.” European Center for Populism Studies (2023). Access Date: May 10, 2023. https://www.populismstudies.org/the-impact-of-the-russia-ukraine-war-on-radical-right-wing-populism-in-france/
• Jack, Victor. “Orban to Veto EU Sanctions Against Russian Nuclear Sector,” Politico, January 27, 2023. Access Date: May 10, 2023. https://www.politico.eu/article/orban-to-veto-eu-sanctions-against-russian-nuclear-sector.
• Kallis, Aristotle. “Islamophobia in Europe: The Radical Right and the Mainstream.” Insight Turkey 17, no 4 (2015): 27-37.
• Kaltwasser, Cristobal Rovira. “Populism - An Overview of the Concept and the State of the Art.” In The Oxford Handbook of Populism, editors Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser et al., 1-24. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
• Kriesi Hans Peter and Takis Pappas, European Populism in the Shadow of the Great Recession. Colchester: ECPR Press, 2015.
• Kundnani, Hans. “Europe’s Geopolitical Confusion.” Internationale Politik Quarterly, Jan 4, 2023. Access Date: April 15, 2023. https://ip-quarterly.com/en/europes-geopolitical-confusion.
• Laidi, Zaki. “The Meaning of Geopolitical Europe: A Response to Hans Kundnani,” Internationale Politik Quarterly, Jan 16, 2023. Access Date: April 15, 2023. https://ip-quarterly.com/en/meaning-geopolitical-europe-response-hans-kundnani.
• Lehne, Stefan. “Making EU Foreign Policy Fit For a Geopolitical Europe.” Carnegie Europe, April 14, 2022. Access Date: April 15, 2023. https://carnegieeurope.eu/2022/04/14/making-eu-foreign-policy-fit-for-geopolitical-world-pub-86886.
• Mackenzie, James and Gavin Jones. “Italy delivers tough austerity measures,” Reuters, August 13, 2011. Access Date: February 05, 2023. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-crisis-idUSTRE77B1GF20110813.
• Manners, Ian. “Normative Power Europe: A Contradiction in Terms?.” JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 40 (2002): 235-258.
• Martuscelli, Carlo and Jacopo Barigazzi. “Veni, Vidi, Veto: Giorgia Meloni’s March on Brussels.” Politico, September 22, 2022. Access Date: February 6, 2023. https://www.politico.eu/article/veni-vedi-veto-giorgia-melonis-march-on-brussels/.
• Hardeep, Matharu. “The 2008 Financial Crisis paved the way for Brexit – Why don’t We Talk About it Anymore?.” By Line Times, November, 2, 2019. Access Date: February 05, 2023. https://bylinetimes.com/2019/11/07/the-2008-financial-crash-paved-the-way-for-brexit-why-dont-we-talk-about-it-anymore/.
• “MEPs Say Work on Ukraine’s EU Future Must Start Now.” News European Parliament, February 2, 2023. Access Date: May 10, 2023. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room /20230130IPR70207 /meps-say-work-on-ukraine-s-eu-future-must-start-now.
• Moffit, Benjamin. “How to Perform Crisis: A Model for Understanding the Key Role of Crisis in Contemporary Populism.” Government and Opposition 50 (2014): 1-29.
• “Meeting of the European Political Community, 1 June 2023.” European Council, Council of the European Union, June 2023. Access Date: April 20, 2023. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/international-summit/2023/06/01/.
• Mudde, Cas and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser, “Populism and (Liberal) Democracy: A Framework for Analysis.” In Populism and Democracy in Europe and the Americas: A Threat or Corrective for Democracy, editors Cas Mudde and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012: 1-26.
• Mudde, Cas. “The Populist Zeitgeist.” Government and Opposition 34, no 4 (2004): 541-563.
• Mudde, Cas. “The Study of Populist Radical Right Parties: Towards a Fourth Wave,” C-Rex Working Paper Series, September 2016.
• Noureddine, Raja. “Critically Assess and Analyse the Notion that the EU is a Normative Power.” European Union External Action, November 24, 2016. Access Date: April 3, 2023. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/node/15687 _en.
• Oanca, Alexandra . “‘Security’ and ‘Crisis’ in Populist Discourse –a Brief Exploratory Story-.” Relationes Internationales 4, no 1 (2022): 7-27.
• Ongaro, Eduardo, Fabrizio di Mascio and Alessandro Natalini. “How the European Union Responded to Populism and Its Implications for Public Sector Reforms.” Global Public Policy and Governance 2 (2022): 89-109.
• Öztiğ, Laçin İdil, Türkan Ayda Gürkan, and Kenan Aydın. “The Strategic Logic of Islamophobic Populism.” Government and Opposition 56, no 3 (2019): 446-464.
• “Poland has a duty to preserve judicial independence.” Council of Europe, July 17, 2017. Access Date: February 04, 2023. https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/poland-has-a-duty-to-preserve-judicial-independence.
• Raj, Kartik. “How Nativist Populism is Going Mainstream in Europe.” Human Rights Watch, February 21, 2020. Access Date: February 02, 2023. http://www.hrw.org/news/2020/02/21/how-nativist-populism-going-mainstream-europe.
• Rankin, Jennifer. “Europe’s far-right praise UK’s illegal migration bill.” The Guardian, March 9, 2023. Access Date: April 03, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/09/europes-far-right-praise-uks-migration-bill.
• Roberts, Kenneth. “Populism and Populist Parties,.” In The Oxford Handbook of Populism, editors Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser et al., 287-304. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
• Rule of Law in Hungary and Poland: Plenary Debate and Resolution.” European Parliament News, May 2-5, 2022. Access Date: March 10, 2023. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/agenda/briefing/2022-05-02/6/rule-of-law-in-hungary-and-poland-plenary-debate-and-resolution.
• “Questions and Answers: EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.” European Commission, December 24, 2020. Access Date: May 10, 2023. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_20_2532.
• “Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe – A Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy.” European Union Global Strategy, June 2016. Access Date: April 18, 2023. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/ eugs_review_web_0.pdf.
• Stanley, Ben. “The Thin Ideology of Populism.” Journal of Political Ideologies 13, no 1 (2008): 95-110.
• Tan, Rebecca. “From France to Denmark, bans on full-face Muslims veils are spreading across Europe.” Washington Post, August 16, 2018, Access Date: February 03, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018 /08/16/france-denmark-bans-full-face-muslim-veils-are-spreading-across-europe/.
• Taylor, Paul. “EU must seize the geopolitical moment in the Balkans.” Politico, December 14, 2022. Access Date: April 21, 2023. https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-balkans-accession-russia-china-geopolitics/.
• “The Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism.” Council of the EU, Press Release, December 12, 2022. Access Date: March 10, 2023. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/12/12/rule-of-law-conditionality-mechanism/.
• Traynor Ian and Helena Smith. “EU Border Controls: Schengen Scheme on the Brink After Amsterdam Talks.” The Guardian, January 16, 2016. Access Date: March 15, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world /2016/jan/25/refugee-crisis-schengen-area-scheme-brink-amsterdam-talks.
• Traynor, Ian. “EU Plans Migrant Quotas Forcing States to ‘Share’ Burden.” The Guardian, May 10, 2015. Access Date: March 16, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/10/european-commission-migrant-quota-plan-mediterranean-crisis.
• Traynor Ian and Patrick Kingsley. “EU Governments push through divisive deal to share 120,000 refugees.” The Guardian, September 22, 2015. Access Date: February 6, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/22/ eu-governments-divisive-quotas-deal-share-120000-refugees.
• Van Spanje, Joost. “Contagious Parties and their impact on other Parties’ Immigration Stances in Contemporary Western Europe.” Party Politics 16, no 5 (2010): 563-586.
• Vasilopoulou, Sofia. “European Integration and the Radical Right: Three Patterns of Opposition.” Government and Opposition 46, no 2 (2011): 223-244.
• Vigura, Karolina. “Poland’s Islamophobia.” Carnegie Europe, June 23, 2016. Access Date: February 02, 2023. https://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/63892.
• Vollaard, Hans. “One down, any to go? European disintegration after Brexit.” LSE, March 23, 2020. Access Date: March 20, 2023. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2020/03/23/one-down-many-to-go-european-disintegration-after-brexit.
• Weyland, Kurt. “A Political-Strategic Approach.” in The Oxford Handbook of Populism, editors: editors Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser et al., 48-72. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
• Weyland, Kurt. “Clarifying a Contested Concept: Populism in the Study of Latin American Politics.” Comparative Politics 34, no 1 (2001): 1-22.