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Populism in Central Europe

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Organiser: Objectives of this book are: The Association for International Affairs (AMO) is a Czech non-govern- ■ To examine the factors that feed the contemporary populist facet of Central European politics. mental organization that conducts research, and hosts educational pro- ■ To critically analyze the concept of populism: Is populism an inherent feature of politics? grams in the fields of international affairs, foreign policy and security ■ To discuss the historical and ideological roots of Central European populism: What has influenced studies. AMO, established in 1995, the formation of populism in Central Europe? is currently one of the leading institu- With kind support of: tions of its kind in the Czech ■ To ask whether the features shared by the Central European states outweigh their differences and Republic. whether there is such phenomenon as "Central European populism". The Research Center of AMO pro- Václav Nekvapil and Maria Staszkiewicz (editors) vides independent expert analyses, supports discussions at various levels and provides solutions for these issues. EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND IN PRAGUE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC POPULISM IN CENTRAL EUROPE Populism in Central Europe Editors: Václav Nekvapil and Maria Staszkiewicz Compiled by: Vendula Peisertová, Jiří Bednář, Lauren Trigero, Adéla Jurečková, Jitka Jurková, Lenka Ryjáčková and Vlaďka Votavová Translations: Gwendolyn Albert (Eva van de Rakt: Opening Remarks; Marie Gailová: Populism in the Context of "the Roma Question"; Jiří Musil: Reflections on Czech Populism; Václav Nekvapil: Populism and the Role of Political Parties in the Czech Republic and Lukáš Benda: Populism in Contemporary Hungarian Politics) Designed by: Tomáš Barčík – design studio Printed by: BCS, s. r. o. The autors are solely responsible for the content and any errors and omissions in their contributions. Association for International Affairs (AMO) Žitná 27, CZ 110 00 Prague 1 tel./fax: +420 224 813 460 [email protected] www.amo.cz © AMO 2007 ISBN 978-80-87092-02-6 Contents CONTENTS Introduction (Václav Nekvapil, Maria Staszkiewicz) 7 Organizers 9 Conference Program 10 Opening Remarks 14 Alice Savovová 14 Tomáš Kafka 14 Eva van de Rakt 15 Discussion Panel I: "What Happened in Central Europe?" 16 Josef Jařab 16 Eduard Kukan 20 Ondřej Liška 22 Cyril Svoboda 24 Discussion Panel II: "Populism. Theoretical Approaches" 26 Populism and right-wing Extremism in modern Democracies 26 (Klaus von Beyme) Populism - Theoretical Approach (Bojan Bugarič) 41 Populism in Central Europe. Theoretical Problems 43 (Maria Marczewska-Rytko) Populism in the Age of Mediocracy and Mediacracy (Jiří Pehe) 59 Discussion Panel III: "Are Central European Countries prone to Populism?" 65 Populism in the Context of "the Roma Question" (Marie Gailová) 65 Populism and Populist Politics in Slovakia: Facts and Trends 68 (Grigorij Mesežnikov) | 5 | Populism in Central Europe Reflections on Czech Populism (Jiří Musil) 76 Vox Populi, Vox Dei and the [Head-] Master's Voice: Mass and Intellectual Neo- Populism in Contemporary Romania (Michael Shafir) 81 Are Central European Countries prone to Populism? (Soňa Szomolányi) 110 Discussion Panel IV: "The European Union - a new Stimulus for Populism?" 112 The European Union - a new Stimulus for Populism? (Kai-Olaf Lang) 112 Populism in Government: Remarks on the Reactions of the European Union and Its Member States to the Austrian Freedom Party (Paul Luif) 114 EU Accession, Populism and National Identity - the Case of Slovakia 130 (Juraj Marušiak) Populism and the Role of Political Parties in the Czech Republic 137 (Václav Nekvapil) Closing Remarks 142 Jiří Dienstbier 142 Additional Papers: 143 How Central European Populism Exploits Anti-Roma Sentiment 143 (Gwendolyn Albert) Populism in Contemporary Hungarian Politics (Lukáš Benda) 156 Populism in Slovak Politics: Case Study of Rudolf Schuster and his Party of Civic Understanding (Petr Just) 174 Populist Discourse in Poland (Maria Staszkiewicz) 189 Speakers and Authors 200 Photogallery 209 Research Center of the Association for International Affairs 214 | 6 | Introduction INTRODUCTION For the last two decades, Central European societies have been developing new, liberal environments in their various domestic political cultures. While the politi- cal culture in each country was distorted to a different extent during the com- munist era, the transformational processes these countries are currently under- going are being determined by similar internal and external factors. The post- communist era has been marked by two main overlapping processes: Political, economic and societal transformation, and the effort to enter NATO and the EU. Beneath the surface of this major evolution, a vivid political life has been taking place in each country in which political boundaries are being drawn concerning attitudes toward the principles behind and consequences of these supranational processes. In the case of the Czech Republic, partitocracy and the powerful position of the Communist Party remain permanent features of the socio-political landscape. Poland has been witnessing the return of politicized Catholicism and anti-com- munism, and fear of rapprochement between Germany and Russia is still strong. The Hungarian political scene is recurrently marked by a division of the popula- tion (and the electorate) into the liberal/urban and the conservative/rural, and relations with Hungarian minorities abroad have been playing an increasingly crucial role. Slovakia has been intensively seeking a basis for statehood in its national past; while relations with the Czech Republic were addressed by dis- solving the Czechoslovak federal state in 1993, bilateral relations with Hungary remain still unresolved. | 7 | Populism in Central Europe As the 2004 EU accession drew nearer, the political elites, institutionalised as they were in pro-European governments, focused on adopting EU legislation and negotiating the final details of the accession treaties. In the meantime, however, their societies felt progressively neglected. Their accumulated expectations, goals, worries and frustrations generated a populist backlash in Central Europe prior to EU accession. The seeds of social instability were further catalysed by those Central European populist parties and politicians that celebrated success- es in the European Parliamentary elections one month after the 2004 enlarge- ment. Even though the circumstances leading to the populist parties' victories were as divergent as their ideologies, their degrees of success, and their levels of persistence, the populist backlash in Central Europe did occur at the same time in all of these countries and evolved in opposition to the same "enemy" (i.e., European integration). The objectives of this conference were: ■ To examine the factors that feed the contemporary populist facet of Central European politics: Why here? ■ To critically analyse the concept of populism: Is populism an inherent feature of politics? ■ To discuss the historical and ideological roots of Central European populism: What has led to the formation of populism here? ■ To discuss the consequences of populism: How is Central Europe perceived abroad? ■ To ask whether the features shared by the Central European states outweigh their differences and whether there is in fact such a phenomenon as "Central European populism". | 8 | Organizers ORGANIZERS The conference was organized by the Association for International Affairs (Asociace pro mezinárodní otázky, AMO), a leading independent think-tank established in the Czech Republic to provide information, resources and analysis in the fields of international relations, foreign and security policy and European and global politics. With the kind support of Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Prague International Visegrad Fund Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Prague The conference was co-organised with the Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Political Sciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The conference was held under the auspices of H.E. Karel Schwarzenberg, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. | 9 | Populism in Central Europe CONFERENCE PROGRAM NOVEMBER 21-22, 2007 NOVEMBER 21, 2007 VENUE: HOTEL SAVOY (KEPLEROVA 6, PRAGUE 1) 20:30 - 23:00 WELCOME DINNER ■ DINNER SPEECH: EDVARD OUTRATA, MEMBER OF ADVISORY BOARD OF AMO, FORMER VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE OF THE CZECH PARLIAMENT (CZ) NOVEMBER 22, 2007 VENUE: MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ČERNÍNSKÝ PALÁC (LORETÁNSKÉ NÁMĚSTÍ 5, PRAGUE 1) 09:00 - 09:15 OPENING REMARKS ■ ALICE SAVOVOVÁ, Director, Association for International Affairs ■ TOMÁŠ KAFKA, Head of Department of Central Europe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs ■ EVA VAN DE RAKT, Director, Heinrich Böll Stiftung in Prague | 10 | Conference Program 9:15 - 10:45 DISCUSSION PANEL I 2004 - 2006: WHAT HAPPENED IN CENTRAL EUROPE? Can we speak of a rise of populism in Central Europe? The perception of politics in changed circumstances. Populist instruments and methods. The heritage of 1989: Popular revolutions or negotiated deals? Visions of transformation. Election dynamics and populist parties. ■ JOSEF JAŘAB, former chairman of Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security of the Senate (CZ) ■ EDUARD KUKAN, former Minister of Foreign Affairs (SK) ■ ONDŘEJ LIŠKA, chairman of Committee on European Affairs
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