An analysis of increasing Euroscepticism and rising nationalist discourse in Hungarian politics

Euroscepticism is a phenomenon that has been on the rise among the member states of the European Union in recent years. Hungary is one of the countries where the attitude among the member states has become the most prominent in domestic and foreign policy. The starting point of the study is the adoption of this political stance by Hungary, which was one of the countries most eager to develop its relations with the West and join the Union in the post-Soviet period. In the study, it is aimed to examine the increasing Euroscepticism and the rising nationalist discourse in Hungarian politics. Although the post-2010 period is the focus of the study, the events that were effective in the process are presented from a historical perspective. The EU policies and events that caused the Eurosceptic attitude during the period were examined and the behavior of the actors in the Hungarian policy towards the mentioned events and policies were analyzed. The study aimed to examine Euroscepticism at the political party and public level. In this context, it has been revealed that Hungarian Euroscepticism develops together with the nationalist discourse used by far-right parties and has become an important tool in domestic and foreign policy. At this stage, quotations were taken from the statements of party leaders and government officials on the subject. In order to measure the increasing Euroscepticism at the public level, data from the Eurobarometer, an institution affiliated to the European Commission, were used. It was concluded that Euroscepticism at the public level developed not against European identity, but against EU policies and the expansion and deepening of the scope of integration.