Contested Europeanness: EU accession and political polarisation in Serbia

Understanding repertoires of symbolic action is vital for explaining the dynamics of political contestation in today’s polarised societies. Such repertoires consist of symbols, narratives, values, and historical references that carry both cognitive and affective meaning and are strategically mobilised by political actors to shape perceptions, construct legitimacy, and mobilise support. This paper examines how competing domestic repertoires of Europeanness are constructed and deployed in Serbian parliamentary politics, and how they contribute to political polarisation surrounding the European Union (EU) accession process. Although EU membership is formally established as Serbia’s strategic priority, it remains one of the most polarising political issues in the country. The research focuses on parliamentary debates as one of the main arenas that shape political discourse. Parliamentary debates and rhetorical strategies used by the MPs are seen as central for constructing meaning in parliamentary democracy, with a “decisive role in the drawing of the boundaries of the publicly sayable” (Bischof and Löffler, 2023: 141). Recognising that policymakers shape the public discourse on EU accession while promoting their own political agendas, the research is based on a thematic analysis of the parliamentary debates, exploring how politicians and policymakers create, extend, and use symbolic repertoires of Europe. In particular, the research focuses on how historical narratives and symbols are used to articulate contrasting visions of Europe in a context marked by a stalled enlargement process, internal legitimacy challenges, and shifting geopolitical alignments. Visions of Europe as a community of values, an economic opportunity, a geopolitical necessity or an identity threat are all used to construct repertoires of symbolic action and mobilise public support of concrete policies. The analysis further investigates how these symbolic constructions influence public narratives, resonance, and contestation, showing how symbols of Europeanness are not only elite-driven but also embedded in broader societal narratives and emotional attachments. By mapping the dominant symbolic repertoires and discursive strategies across the political spectrum, the paper demonstrates how they structure debates on the EU’s changing role, Serbia’s accession trajectory, and national narratives vis-à-vis European identity. It argues that the strategic use of symbolic action around Europe both reflects and deepens ideological and affective polarisation in Serbian politics, offering broader insights into the politics of European integration in highly polarised candidate countries.