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<p>The essay discusses Central Eastern Europe as a ‘laboratory’ of existing, emerging as well as contained elements of illiberal backlash. The Central European countries show both challenges and resilience mechanisms in more ‘extreme’ conditions than the cases from Western Europe. The paper offers the connection between the domestic development of Central European states and the ‘polycrisis’ of European integration by linking the issue of politicisation of European integration with the emergence of illiberal politics in contemporary Europe. The goal and main argument of the paper are that there exists a nexus between illiberal Central Eastern European politicians and rising Euroscepticism in the region. The empirical research of Central Eastern European cases will help us better understand general trends of European integration politicisation.</p>
</abstract>

The essay discusses Central Eastern Europe as a ‘laboratory’ of existing, emerging as well as contained elements of illiberal backlash. The Central European countries show both challenges and resilience mechanisms in more ‘extreme’ conditions than the cases from Western Europe. The paper offers the connection between the domestic development of Central European states and the ‘polycrisis’ of European integration by linking the issue of politicisation of European integration with the emergence of illiberal politics in contemporary Europe. The goal and main argument of the paper are that there exists a nexus between illiberal Central Eastern European politicians and rising Euroscepticism in the region. The empirical research of Central Eastern European cases will help us better understand general trends of European integration politicisation.

Linking European Integration with Illiberalism: ‘Laboratory’ of Central-Eastern Europe

Politics in Central Europe

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The essay discusses Central Eastern Europe as a ‘laboratory’ of existing, emerging as well as contained elements of illiberal backlash. The Central European...

Linking European Integration with Illiberalism: ‘Laboratory’ of Central-Eastern Europe

Published Online: Jun 15, 2023

Page range: 217 - 234

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2023-0010

Keywords
Central-Eastern Europe, democratization, illiberal democracy, European integration, politicisation

© 2023 Vít Hloušek, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Linking European Integration with Illiberalism: ‘Laboratory’ of Central-Eastern Europe

Published Online: Jun 15, 2023

Page range: 217 - 234

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2023-0010

KeywordsCentral-Eastern Europe, democratization, illiberal democracy, European integration, politicisation

© 2023 Vít Hloušek, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Central-Eastern Europe, democratization, illiberal democracy, European integration, politicisation