Description
Foreign interference has become a topic of high politics in Europe. Primarily, pundits and politicians have discussed Russian and Chinese interference in domestic politics with the focus on pre-election periods. The European Union has reflected the threat of foreign interference across policy areas, introducing initiatives on media and digital space regulation as well as on market protection. Foreign interference is not a new concept in the European discourse, however. Primarily, small European member states have long struggled with the right balance between integration and autonomy. On the one hand, they need the EU to provide them with shelter. On the other hand, European institutions and policies are often labelled as encroaching on domestic autonomy and exercising, in effect, illegitimate interference into domestic politics. This paper will look at parliamentary debates in three small states, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary, to analyse how the concept of foreign interference is used in connection to European integration as a narrative tool to promote or oppose policies. Empirically, the paper will contribute to our knowledge of Central European approach to European integration. Theoretically, it will contribute to our understanding of the concept of foreign interference and its use as a political instrument.
