Campaigning Europe

Abstract

The article deals with the campaign before the Czech parliamentary elections in 2002, focusing on the imagery concerning the European Union and the expected Czech membership. It explains the radicalizing domestic and international political context, demonstrating that while the EU accession was omnipresent in the campaign, it was reduced to two topics unrelated to the actual entry into the Union, namely Temelín power plant and so called Beneš decrees. The concluding part seeks to relate the institutional aspect of the development to the debate on Europeanization.