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Exclusionary Europeans: Radical-right party construction of Europeanness in response to the 2015 refugee ‘crisis’

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Comparative European Politics Aims and scope

Abstract

The 2015 refugee ‘crisis’ posed a dilemma for European radical-right parties (RRPs). On the one hand, it provided a rallying point against immigration, an issue for which these parties have traditionally claimed ownership. On the other hand, it forced them to propose European solutions, in particular by toughening EU border control and asylum policy. This paper argues that following the 2015 events RRPs distanced themselves from hard Euroscepticism on border control and asylum policy and participated in the political production of exclusionary Europeanness. I perform a theory-testing analysis of campaign pledges, between-election rhetoric and—when in government—policy positions of the French Rassemblement National, the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) and the Italian Lega. I demonstrate that these three RRPs are engaged in the political production of exclusionary Europeanness along three dimensions: political representation, institutionalisation, and collective identity.

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Notes

  1. For a justification of using party public statements as well as votes on EU Treaties, see Taggart and Szczerbiak (2013), p. 9. No votes on new Treaties in national parliaments took place during the period under scrutiny, but all the votes and debates in the European parliament related to the migration crisis during the period 2015–2020 were examined.

  2. Bartolini distinguishes three dimensions of “system-building” in the EU: cultural identity, social sharing through institutionalisation and political rights (Bartolini 2005, pp. 211–241). The operationalisation here adopts the first two dimensions, but we substitute political representation for political rights as a more pertinent voice option for EU citizens with regard to the 2015 events.

  3. Interview with AfD co-chair, Jörg Meuthen, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sontagszeitung, ‘Halten Europas Rechte zusammen? ‘, April 14 2019.

  4. ‘Verso l’Europa del buonsenso ‘, «https://www.leganord.org/il-movimento/europee-2019» Accessed 20 June, 2019.

  5. See in particular speeches by Jean-Paul Garraud (Rassemblement National—ID), Nicolaus Fest (FPÖ-ID) Balázs Hidvéghi (Fidesz–EPP), Stanislav Polčák (EPP), European Parliament Plenary Debate, CRE 23/10/2019–18.

  6. In two out of the three votes the Rapporteur was a member of the EPP group; in one the Rapporteur was a member of the ECR group.

  7. Tiroler Tageszeitung, 15 May 2018, ‘FP-Kandidat Kurz im Interview: “Notfalls den Brenner schützen”. Available at «https://www.tt.com/artikel/15640334/fp-kandidat-kurz-im-interview-notfalls-den-brenner-schuetzen» Αccessed June19, 2019.

  8. European Parliament Plenary Debate, CRE 09/09/2015—008.

  9. Salzburger Nachrichten, 12 July 2018, ‘EU-Innenminister drängen auf Asylverschärfungen’. Available at «https://www.sn.at/politik/innenpolitik/eu-innenminister-draengen-auf-asylverschaerfungen-31705825» Αccessed 20 June, 2019.

  10. Cited in ‘Vizekanzler Strache besucht Ministerpräsident Orbán in Budapest ‘. Available at «https://www.fpoe.at/artikel/vizekanzler-strache-besucht-ministerpraesident-orban-in-budapest/» Αccessed 19 June, 2019.

  11. See speeches by Steeve Briois, European Parliament Plenary Debate CRE-03/08/2016–011; Mireille d’Ornano, European Parliament Plenary Debate CRE 09/09/2015–006; Nicolas Bay European Parliament Plenary Debate CRE-12/04/2016–003.

  12. Wall Street Journal, 15 October 2015, ‘Restoring Europe’s Borders and sovereign Nations’. Available at «https://www.wsj.com/articles/restoring-europes-borders-and-sovereign-nations-1444940613» Accessed 22 February 2020.

  13. Hungary Today, 02 May 2019,’Orbán, Salvini: Europe’s Borders Need to Be Protected against “Migrant Invasion” ‘. Available at «https://hungarytoday.hu/orban-salvini-europes-borders-need-to-be-protected-against-migrant-invasion/» Accessed 15 June 2019.

  14. La Reppublicca, 25 March, 2017,’Salvini a Lampedusa: La mia Europa difende i confini’.

  15. La Libération, 10 March, 2020, ‘Un quarteron de députés d'extrême droite en vadrouille dans le nord de la Grèce’.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Georgia Mavrodi, Antonis Ellinas, Karen Schönwälder, Steven Vertovec, Andreas Busch, Anders Hellström, Melanie Kolbe, Giannis Vogiatzis, Lucas Drouhot and the anonymous reviewers who read and commented on various versions of the paper.

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  1. Department of Social and Political Science, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, CY-1678, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Michalis Moutselos

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Moutselos, M. Exclusionary Europeans: Radical-right party construction of Europeanness in response to the 2015 refugee ‘crisis’. Comp Eur Polit 21, 400–417 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-023-00333-9

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