Európska identita vybraných slovenských politických predstaviteľov počas krízy eurozóny Prečítať

EUROPEAN IDENTITY OF THE SELECTED SLOVAK POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES DURING THE PERIOD OF EUROZONE CRISIS

Ľubica Šebeňová

***

Politické vedy, Volume 20, Number 2/2017, pages 67-90

Odporúčaná forma citácie článku / Recommended form for quotation of the article:

ŠEBEŇOVÁ, Ľ. 2017. European Identity of the Selected Slovak Political Representatives during the Period of Eurozone Crisis. In Politické vedy. [online]. Roč. 20, č. 2, 2017. ISSN 1335–2741, s. 67-90. Dostupné na internete: <http://www.politickevedy.fpvmv.umb.sk/archiv-vydani/2017/2-2017/lubica-sebenova.html>.

ABSTRACT

Identity is integral in understanding politics, shaping their interpretation and response to events. This article analyses the process of formation of the European identity during the times of Eurozone crisis within the discourse of selected Slovak political representatives –Róbert Fico and Richard Sulík. The main research question is: „How is the European identity of the examined political leaders being built in the context of crisis?” The research is accomplished by analysing texts and speeches of selected politicians using the discourse analysis based on the model created by Paul Chilton. Through discourse analysis, it was possible to describe ways, which led to the formation of European identity of each politician during the examined period. Fico shares the pro-European attitude towards the integration and solutions of its internal problems in the period of debt crisis. He primarily used a function of coercion in order to explain the steps, his government took in regards to the EU and to approve his decisions in front of the public. In the discourse of Richard Sulik, the delegitimisation, which is associated to the criticism of the functioning of the EU, dominates. Thus, his European identity is mainly created through opposing the particular points of the future development of the Union.The article tries to be a contribution to the wide discussion about the European identity crisis having its roots at the times of economic crisis.

Key words: European identity, economic crisis, Eurozone, Slovakia, discourse