Together or Apart - Populist Perceptions on an Institutionalized EU Migration Approach

The following paper aims to answer the question, how do national populist movements perceive an institutionalized approach to migration on an EU level? Maintaining International Relations relevancy, the puzzle at heart is eminent with its acknowledgement of national-populist parties in relation to EU collaboration, specifically in reference to the issue of migration. Thus, the paper establishes the central argument that populist discourse establishes the EU as a constituent of the elite, projecting a nationalist agenda on migration rather than cooperating and maintaining a collective identity through the institution. Constituting contra-camp identities between the institution and its citizens whilst addressing issues at the EU level, ultimately influences transnational relations. The paper presents the cases of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia who have arguably held populist governments during or following the migration crisis 2015/2016. Implementing a poststructural framework in collaboration with a populist ‘theory’ or paradigm, a set of quantitative analyses are enlisted, featured as a ‘backdrop’ for the discursive practices and context stage of the prominent CDA analyses. Conclusively, the results find a noticeable critique toward the EU migration approach, where the institution is recognized as an ‘elitist’ establishment maintaining opposing values to ‘the people’ and favoring migration