European Populism and the War in Ukraine: Populist Narratives in Support of Vladimir Putin

Abstract

European illiberal populists have not been very shy about their association with the RussianFederation’s Vladimir Putin. Many of them have even hailed the Russian President as a stalwart exam-ple against the liberal democratic institutions that define the European Union. However, it’s been almosttwo years since Russia invaded Ukraine and some of Putin’s previous supporters in Europe have dialledback their stance on Putin. This article seeks to create an overview of populist narratives in EuropeanUnion member states regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, in order to assesswhether European illiberal discourses fluctuate according to external events.The analysis covers 8 European Union member states: France, Germany,Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. The periodof analysis covers the full year since the Russian invasion in Ukraine inFebruary 2022, up until February 2023, and is contrasted to statements andpositions held prior to February 2022. The analy-sis will be based on public statements made by keypopulist actors and parties from the 8 memberstates. The working hypothesis is that the pop-ulists’ support and admiration for Vladimir Putinvaries across the 8 countries. In some, support hasbeen diluted after the start of the invasion due topre-existing anti-communist sentiment, while inothers it hasn’t seen a significant drop.