Les enfants terribles de l’Europe? The ‘Sovereigntist’ Role of the Visegrád Group in the Context of the Migration Crisis

Abstract

What was behind the Visegrád Group’s (V4) pursuit of its anti-migration policy (2015–2020), despite the adverse effects on the Group’s image and position within the EU? Through the framework of role theory, the article argues that this development stems from the Visegrád Group’s self-created and performed role of ‘sovereigntist’. The objective of this role is to minimise the threat of ‘illegal’ migration as well as to diminish Brussels’ supranational influence, which the V4 perceives as threatening to the particular national identity and sovereignty of its members. The article examines the internal contradictions of this role and how it clashes with the V4’s primary integrational role within the EU structures as a ‘follower’.