TY - JOUR AU - Sebők, Miklós AU - Buzogány, Áron AU - Fleischer, Julia AU - Gessler, Theresa AU - Takács, Anna AU - Theriault, Sean M. AU - Holányi, Ákos TI - Crisis-exploitation or fear-mongering? A research agenda for the comparative study of policy crises and illiberal policy frames JF - JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN PUBLIC POLICY J2 - J EUR PUBLIC POLICY VL - 33 PY - 2026 IS - 1 SP - 289 EP - 321 PG - 33 SN - 1350-1763 DO - 10.1080/13501763.2025.2583176 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36432821 ID - 36432821 N1 - The research project was supported by the V-Shift Momentum Project of the Hungar-ian Academy of Sciences; the European Union within the framework of the RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00004 Artificial Intelligence National Laboratory Program, Miklós Sebők’sExcellence project funded by the Hungarian National Research, Development andInnovation Office’s National Research Excellence Programme; PROMPT (PredictiveResearch On Misinformation and narratives Propagation Trajectories), the secondpilot-project of the European Narrative Observatory to fight Disinformation post-COVID-19, funded by the European Commission (DG CONNECT) under grant agree-ment no. LC-02629302; the machine learning service of the Slices RI infrastructure(https://www.slices-ri.eu/). We are grateful for the possibility to use the GenAI4Scienceservice of the HUN-REN Cloud (Héder et al., 2022 – https://science-cloud.hu), whichhelped us achieve the results published in this paper). The research was conductedas part of the bilateral Hungarian-Austrian Science and Technology (S&T) CooperationProgramme, with the support of project 2023-1.2.4-TÉT-2023-00058. As part of thesame programme, support by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Scienceand Research (BMBWF) and Austria´s Agency for Education and Internationalisation(OeAD), (WTZ Grant HU 09/2024) is gratefully acknowledged. AB - The pervasive and growing illiberal movement is, perhaps, the greatest global challenge to liberal democracy today. Scholars argue that domestic and international crises have played an important role in perpetuating illiberalism among leaders and growing its support among their populace. In this paper, we set out a research agenda for the systematic study of illiberal policy frames (IPFs). In illustrating the potential of the concept and its operationalisation, we analyse how legislative politicians have used policy crises to communicate their policy ideas through IPFs. First, we define and measure illiberal frames in four countries (Austria, Germany, Hungary and the United States) for two policy issues (migration and COVID-19) using a novel IPF codebook and state-of-the-art large language models. Second, we assess the extent to which the use of these frames is sensitive to exogenous policy crises. Our findings suggest that the usage of illiberal political frames does not closely track the pertinent policy crisis metrics, such as the number of asylum seekers (for migration) or casualties (for COVID-19). Narratives show no relation to markers of the underlying policy crises, which points to a political strategy based on continued fear-mongering rather than crisis exploitation. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Holányi, Ákos TI - Unpolitics, domestic pressures, or else? The opposition of Visegrád Group countries to the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum JF - JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION J2 - J EUR INTEGR VL - 2025 PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 22 PG - 22 SN - 0703-6337 DO - 10.1080/07036337.2025.2519043 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36200030 ID - 36200030 AB - Why do governments oppose seemingly favourable policy changes? This paper engages with this broader question by analys- ing the behaviour of EU Member States during the Pact on Migration and Asylum negotiations. Specifically, it looks at the Visegrád Group countries – Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia – which were the only states not supporting any files of the Pact, despite it introducing harsher immigration rules in line with their policy positions. The paper explores three potential explanations, deliberate obstructionism conceptualised as ‘unpoli- tics,’ domestic political pressures, and genuine policy red lines, using semi-structured elite interviews and Council of the EU pre- paratory documents. It finds that high-level political disagreements and divergent negotiation strategies meant that the Visegrád Group ceased to be a relevant collective actor in EU migration policy. Similarly, the rationale for their voting decisions also varied on a case-by-case basis. The results support emerging findings on the vote-seeking motivation for populist obstructionism in Council decision-making. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Holányi, Ákos TI - A belpolitikai törésvonalak hatása harminc év szlovák külpolitikájára (1993-2023) JF - PÓLUSOK J2 - PÓLUSOK VL - 6 PY - 2025 IS - 2 SP - 74 EP - 94 PG - 21 SN - 2732-1851 DO - 10.15170/PSK.2025.06.02.05 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36492912 ID - 36492912 N1 - A tanulmány a Kulturális és Innovációs Minisztérium EKÖP-24-4- 21-es kódszámú Egyetemi Kutatói Ösztöndíj Program – A Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovációs Alapból finanszírozott szakmai támogatásával készült. AB - Az államok külpolitikája számos bel- és külpolitikai tényező együttes hatásának eredménye. A jelen tanulmány a szakirodalomban elsőként elemzi Szlovákia külpolitikáját formáló belpolitikai törésvonalakat a külpolitika-elemzés szempontjai szerint. Angol, cseh és szlovák nyelvű szakirodalmi források alapján megállapítja, hogy 1993 és 2023 között a szlovák külpolitika központi törésvonala az elkötelezett nyugatosok és az oroszbarát erők közötti ellentét volt. Ennek következménye egyrészt a kettős beszéd volt, amikor a különböző külpolitikai szempontból vezető tisztviselők (pl. köztársasági elnök, miniszterelnök, külügyminiszter) egymásnak ellentmondó irányvonalat követtek, másrészt pedig egy gyenge érdekérvényesítő képességgel rendelkező külügyi apparátus kifejlődése lett. LA - Hungarian DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Holányi, Ákos AU - Lovec, Marko AU - Hettyey, András TI - Populist (Dis)Engagement with International Parliamentary Institutions: Central Europeans in the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe JF - CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL AND SECURITY STUDIES J2 - CEJISS VL - 19 PY - 2025 IS - 4 SP - 67 EP - 91 PG - 25 SN - 1802-548X DO - 10.51870/FVPK3384 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36522489 ID - 36522489 N1 - The work of Ákos Holányi was supported by the EKÖP-2025-NKE-3-124 University Research Scholarship Program of the Hungarian Ministry for Culture and Innovation from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund. The work of András Hettyey was supported by the Swiss Contribution with the national co-financing of the Hungarian Government. AB - 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. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Holányi, Ákos TI - A cseh külpolitika belpolitikai aspektusai (1993–2023) JF - KÜLÜGYI SZEMLE J2 - KÜLÜGYI SZEMLE VL - 24 PY - 2025 IS - 4 SP - 19 EP - 40 PG - 22 SN - 1587-9089 DO - 10.47707/Kulugyi_Szemle.2025.4.2 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36522557 ID - 36522557 N1 - A tanulmány a Kulturális és Innovációs Minisztérium EKÖP-24-4-21-es kódszámú Egyetemi Kutatói Ösztöndíj Program – A Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovációs Alapból finanszírozott szakmai támogatásával készült. AB - A tanulmány célja, hogy átfogó képet nyújtson az 1993–2023 közötti cseh külpolitikát befolyásoló belföldi tényezőkről. Megvizsgálja, hogy milyen, a külpolitikával összefüggő konfliktusok jellemezték a politikai elitet, és azok hogyan befolyásolták Csehország nemzetközi szerepvállalását. E kérdések megválaszolása érdekében a szakirodalom szintetizálása segítségével bemutatja a külpolitika formálásában részt vevő intézményi szereplőket, az államfők és a parlamenti pártok külpolitikai orientációjának változásait, valamint az említett aktorok közötti ellentéteket. A végső megállapítása, hogy a vizsgált időszakban a cseh politikai elit körében a nyugati külpolitikai orientáció vált dominánssá, azon belül is az aktív Európa-politikát és az európai hatalmakkal való kapcsolatépítést középpontba helyező irányvonal. Ezért a külpolitika alakítói között kialakult ellentétek hátterében nem stratégiai irányvonaluk különbségei álltak, hanem a cseh alkotmány és a minisztériumok feladat- és jogköreit taglaló ún. hatásköri törvény pontatlanságai, amelyek a külpolitikai konfliktusok felvállalása árán lehetőséget teremtettek az ambiciózus politikusok számára a saját befolyásuk növelésére. LA - Hungarian DB - MTMT ER - TY - CONF AU - Holányi, Ákos TI - Negotiating the New Pact on Migration: Central European interest-advocacy in Council of the EU T2 - Joint Sessions of Workshops, Leuphana University Lüneburg, 25 – 28 March 2024 PY - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 1 PG - 1 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35209019 ID - 35209019 AB - How do Central Europeans influence policymaking in the European Union? What strategies do they adopt to achieve their preferred policy outcomes? How do these impact their policy coordination processes? This study aims to answer these questions by analysing the negotiations that led to adopting the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, a comprehensive legislative package that reforms the EU’s migration system. Drawing on previous work on Council of the EU negotiations and Central European foreign policy, the paper tests three hypotheses related to the interest-advocacy of Central European EU member states. Using a most-similar comparative case study design, it analyses the diplomatic activities of Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, which have a history of strong cooperation on migration in the V4 and V4+ formats. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - CONF AU - Holányi, Ákos TI - Regional groups in EU decision-making: How did European crises shape Central European unity? T2 - A Magyar Politikatudományi Társaság XXIX. Vándorgyűlése PB - PTE BTK Politikatudományi és Nemzetközi Tanulmányok Tanszék PY - 2024 SP - 60 EP - 60 PG - 1 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35211736 ID - 35211736 AB - In the past years, the European Union has experienced several crises that tested the cohesion of its member states and the efficiency of its decision-making process. Amidst this series of crises, from the migration crisis of 2015–2016 to the current challenge of the Russia–Ukraine War, some Central European countries have repeatedly emerged as dissonant voices in the European choir. However, recent events such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as elections in Poland and Slovakia, have altered the Central European political landscape and Central Europeans’ priorities within the EU. Given Hungary’s persistent discord with regional partners on key strategic issues, some foreign policy analysts have expected that the relative importance of the Visegrád Group would decrease in favour of other regional groups and flexible alliances as states would try to avoid sharing a platform with Hungary. This research aims to empirically test this hypothesis by going beyond the mediatised conflicts and including all policy areas covered at the EU level. It focuses on the role of known Central European regional groups to explore how united Central Europeans are at the EU level and how they operate to further their political interests. Its empirical content is drawn from a questionnaire disseminated amongst Austrian, Czech, Hungarian, and Slovak diplomats working at their country’s Permanent Representations to the EU. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - CONF AU - Holányi, Ákos TI - Unpolitics, issue politicisation and Central European opposition to the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum T2 - 12th Biennial Conference of the ECPR Standing Group on the European Union PY - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 1 PG - 1 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35211739 ID - 35211739 AB - The New Pact of Migration and Asylum adopted in May 2024 was one of the top agenda items of the 2019–2024 European legislative cycle. The final voting results in the Council of the EU show signs of geographically concentrated opposition to the Pact, with the Central European Visegrád Group (V4) countries (Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland) supporting neither of the eight files which constitute the Pact. Drawing on semi-structured elite interviews and previously publicly unavailable Council documents, the paper seeks to explain what motivated V4 governments to refrain from supporting the Pact. The analysis combines insights from the emerging literature on populist foreign policy and unpolitics with work on the role domestic politics and public opinion on Member State voting behaviour to formulate two hypotheses on the V4 vote. The paper argues that strong domestic political support for populist anti-immigration politics determined governments’ vote not in favour of the Pact. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - CONF AU - Holányi, Ákos TI - Can realist small-state theories explain divergent Central European reactions to the Russia-Ukraine War? A comparison of Czechia and Hungary T2 - 11th European Workshops in International Studies PY - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 1 PG - 1 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35211742 ID - 35211742 LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - CONF AU - Holányi, Ákos TI - Revising Central European unpolitics: the case of the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum T2 - ASPA’s 8th International Young Scholars Workshop PY - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 1 PG - 1 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35211746 ID - 35211746 LA - English DB - MTMT ER -