Non-European European Union Member States

An Analysis of the Effect of European Identity Denial by the European Union on Czechia and Hungary

Abstract

This paper explores the European Union (EU’s) influence on its member states’ national identities through its membership criteria using a case study of the Czech Republic and Hungary. Recognising the EU as the primary authority—or even gatekeeper—of Europeanness and the European identity, the paper compares how the EU acts as an identity denier toward Czech and Hungarian national identities and how that subsequently impacts these two nations’ self-perception and political behaviour in a European context. Ultimately, it concludes that there are two determinants explaining the difference between the Czechian and Hungarian reactions to this denial: the national identity’s receptiveness to the EU’s European identity and the strength and aim of the EU’s denial.

Keywords: European Identity, Identity Denial, Hungary, Czech Republic, EU Conditionality