Florian Trauner & Philipp Stutz – Hungary’s renationalisation strategies: how a populist radical right government may seek control over (EU) migration policy

Abstract

In which ways can a populist radical right government such as the Hungarian under Viktor Orbán constrain the EU’s influence in the migration domain? By conceptualizing different ‘renationalisation strategies’, the article demonstrates how the Hungarian government has managed to enhance control over migration capabilities (policies) and decision-making (politics). By opposing EU law and extensively using emergency laws depriving supranational law of its meaning, the Fidesz government has pursued a national anti-migration agenda largely incompatible with European and international law. The Commission and other EU actors have sought to counter these strategies, but their toolbox has either been difficult to implement or is still at an early development stage.