Populist (Dis)Engagement with International Parliamentary Institutions: Central Europeans in the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

How do populist politicians behave in international parliamentary institutions (IPIs)? Although there is a rapidly growing literature on the foreign policy of populist executive actors, the manifestation of populism as a thin-centred ideology in an international parliamentary setting is not yet understood. This paper aims to alleviate this knowledge gap by analysing how Central European populist parties engaged with the European Parliament (EP) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) from 2019 to 2024, focusing on the highly politicised issues of the rule of law and democracy, immigration and the Russia-Ukraine War. Using a mixed-methods approach combining statistical analysis with qualitative case studies, we offer two main findings. First, the salience of IPI strongly indicates populists’ tendency to disengage from the institution. Second, compared to other ideological positions, being a member of a far-right party has a significant positive effect on voting against resolutions and abstaining or not voting.