COVID-19 crisis as nativist´ politics accelerator in Central Europe?

Already before the outbreak of the COVID-10 crisis the democracy decline/backsliding in (East-)Central Europe was discussed. Many regimes in the group of so called new EU-member states evince in the last decade strengthening of populist and anti-liberal tendencies as well as nationalism and xenophobia. The so called migration crisis in and after 2015 even strengthened such negative trends at the elite-level as well as in the domestic populations, as shown in the public opinion surveys. Generally, the triple crisis (financial, institutional /EU/, migration) detected in recent analyses scholars (cf. Attila Ágh, Seán Hanley, Michal Klíma etc.) caused the electoral earthquakes in majority of East-Central European countries, but also Europe-wide important changes might be detected including the acceleration of party-dealignment processes and general growth of populist tendencies and protectionism. Last, but not least the situation of multiple crisis challenged the external actors (Russia, China, the US) to strengthen and/or modify their approach and activities towards Europe and (groups of) individual European states. The COVID-19 crisis presents new challenge that replenished and upgraded the already existing and ongoing crises. The extraordinary situation brought new financial challenges and fear from crisis that might be comparable with the 1920s/1930s global crisis. The retreat of state became visible political as well as media cliché compared with the alleged weak reaction or even passivity of the EU´s institutions. The governments in those states that – they stress – managed the COVID-19 challenge better than others, stress the primacy of domestic solutions; competition or selective cooperation (Visegrád, “small Schengen” idea in Central Europe etc.) became much more visible than cooperation and solidarity. In some cases we can observe the tendency of national governments to (mis)use the extraordinary situation for cementing their positions and prolonging the democratic order restrictions. In my paper, I focus on selected Central European countries (Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia) and their response on the COVID-19 crisis. I especially stress the strengthening the nativist tendencies in (some) of these states. Such nativist tendencies include for example notions about better “cultural” or other preconditions for dealing with the crisis compared with other nations, alienation and verbal attacks against the “others” such as foreigners, workers commuting over the border, tourist that “brought the illness from abroad”. In practical politics I understand as typical nativist tendencies the effort to keep the borders closed, the declarations about the necessity of (food) autarky, about the obligation to spend the holidays and more generally financial sources “at home” etc. As the research method I will use the discursive analysis; thus I decided to compare the nations where I have excellent knowledge of domestic language. Next to 3 so-called new EU-member states I include also Austria into the sample. Such comparison may detect similarities or differences within the Central Europe as well at the EU-level.