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International Journal of Humanities
Volume 7, № 2, 2023, 7-18
and Social Development Research DOI: 10.30546/2523-4331.2023.7.2.7
MIGRATION TO EUROPE AND RIGHT-WING
POPULISM IN THE CONTEXT OF THE UKRAINIAN-
RUSSIAN WAR
Ayşem Selen MANTOĞLU
Dokuz Eylul University,Turkiye
Ahmet Nazmi ÜSTE
Dokuz Eylul University, Turkiye
© The Author(s) 2023
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received: 11/05/2023
Accepted: 10/08/2023
Published online: 25/10/2023
KEYWORDS
Europe, Migration, Right-Wing
Populism, Territory, Border
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Introduction
The Ukrainian-Russian war, which began on February 24, 2022 with the invasion
of the Ukrainian territory by the Russian army, has caused a political, economic, cultural
and social crisis, as well as a major humanitarian crisis and migration mobility. There
has been an intense movement of migrants from Ukraine to European countries (The
Economist, 2022). This migration has also led to a conjuncture in European politics
where right-wing populist parties have gained strength and the political space has been
securitized. It is widely discussed in the international community that Ukrainian grain
exports have not been able to take place as usual due to the war and that the export of
agricultural and food products in limited quantities could cause a global food crisis in
the long term. For this reason, there have been warnings of an increase in migration to
Europe, especially from countries in Africa and the Middle East (Drozdiak, 2022;
Besheer, 2023; Deveci Bozkuş, 2022). All these developments have led to the fact that
issues of migration control and border security have become the most important agenda
in Europe due to the war between Ukraine and Russia.
As the war between Ukraine and Russia continues, right-wing populist leaders have
achieved advantages in elections in many European countries. In these elections, which
took place in the atmosphere of war, populist rhetoric and tools such as stopping
migration and protecting borders, which were among the political goals of far-right
parties and leaders, paved the way for the implementation of concrete practices in
European politics. This study examines the political space constructed with populist
elements such as immigration, anti-immigration and border protection, which are the
main items on the agenda of European politics after February 24, 2022. In the European
countries where populism has transformed politics as a political actor in the sense of
Carl Schmitt's friend-enemy distinction dichotomy and shaped it with elements such as
security, native/non-native, ethnocentrism, Euroscepticism and border protection, what
concrete policies and practices are implemented to prevent migration and increase
security measures, and are there differences in practice between countries? Several
concepts are used to analyze these policies and practices.
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In the literature on populism and border security, migration and security policies,
the concept of territorial populism is discussed (Mazzoleni, 2024), which is one of the
specific definitions of populism that are important for the problematic of this study.
Territorial populism, which can be conceptualized as the reinforcement of current
policies and goals of far-right populists in the political sphere of security with
xenophobic emphasis on the territorial part, which is the constitutive element of the
concepts of border and security, is one of the basic codes of anti-immigrant sentiments
in contemporary Europe.
Qualitative research methods were used in this study. Discourse analyses of party
leaders were obtained through newspaper and archival research. Analysis of the policies
and practices of political leaders and actors such as the EU reacting and responding to
developments related to the Ukraine-Russia war was conducted using print, visual, and
digital media.
Theorizing populism and Securitization
The constitutive element of the concept of populism is the conflict between the
innocent public and the elites as a distinction between "us" and "others" (Müller, 2018).
Although populism is a concept that is much debated (Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2017;
Canovan, 1981; Taggart, 2000; Urbinati, 2019), it is generally considered to be the
antagonism (Laclau, 2005) between these two camps. Though there is no consensus on
the definition of populism, there is a theoretical dimension constructed on the basis of
the people and elites. Populism, which emerged around the struggle of the people
against corrupt elites who include politicians and non-state actors –undermines national
sovereignty- like the European Union, NATO, etc. While populism has no ideological
baggage (Taggart, 2000, p. 2), it has different facets that can range from bipolar conflict
(elite/people) to the domination of the majority.
Populism has developed in different countries and geographies, shaping the political
conjuncture and creating new actors in the political sphere. As the first populist
movements in the literature, populist social movements in Tsarist Russia and the USA
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in the 19th century is considered by many theorists (Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2017, p. 21-
23; Müller, 2018, p. 34; Canovan, 1981, p. 5-6) as the core and starting point of the
concept of populism. In this period, populism with social-revolutionary, corporatist, and
anti-monarchist content caused radical changes and transformations in many countries,
especially in Europe, until the period between the two world wars. The second wave of
populism emerged in Latin American countries in the 1960s and 1970s with the rural-
urban distinction. Then, in Latin America, there is a model that can be called left
populism in the 1990s, where the heterogeneous masses excluded by the existing system
and
the establishment as a reaction to neoliberalism have been directly engaged by
charismatic leaders such as Eva Morales and Hugo Chavez, by eliminating the
institutions of representative democracy, and led by the policies of charismatic and left-
wing leaders as the true representatives of the people (Weyland, 1996; Mouffe, 2019;
Ateş, 2023, s. 398).
The third wave of populism is the blending and merging of far-right ideology and
populism in Europe, which has continued from the 2000s to current. Although there are
political parties in Europe that can be characterized as left populists, such as Podemos
in Spain and Syriza in Greece, far-right populism is the dominant political actor.
Migration is the main reason for the rise and expansion of far-right populism in Europe.
The far-right became mainstream in the 2000s, affecting large segments of society with
populist waves and it has turned into a heterogeneous structure (Mudde, 2022, p. 33-
35). According to Mudde, global political developments such as the terrorist attacks in
the United States on September 11, 2001, the economic and financial crisis in 2008, and
the refugee crisis in 2015 have contributed to this situation (Mudde, 2022, p.32). So it
is now necessary to focus on the issue of security and securization, which has been
effective in expanding the base of right-wing populism.
With the end of the Cold War, the content, actors, and methods of the concept of
security went through a transformation process, and a transition was made to a security
concept with a different perspective (Mandacı & Özerim, 2013, p.107). The state-
centered and militaristic definition of security has begun to be questioned. One of the
contributors to this process and one of the architects of the transformation of the concept
of security is the Copenhagen School.
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With the Copenhagen School's securitization theory that is constructed by various actors
in almost every field of socio-political life and in this process of construction, they
create their own security threats and become an element of power (Buzan, Waever, &
Wilde, 1998). In securitization theory, the securitizing actor is the one who through a
certain discourse and actions, convinces the rest of society that a group/subject poses a
threat to society, thereby providing legitimacy for extraordinary actions and activities
to take place (Baysal, 2022). The legitimation of the securitization of an actor/subject
perceived as an immediate threat is important here and it is necessary to go one step
beyond discourse and use performative (Austin, 1962) elements. With the securitization
of migration, which is a multidimensional and multi-actor concept, migrants have been
transformed into a threat and the phenomenon of migration has been constructed as a
security issue.
In the securitization theory of the Copenhagen School, which is used to analyze the
relationship between migration and security, migration also has a social dimension. The
social dimension of migration is, on the one hand, the degeneration and weakening of
national identity and cultural codes and the deterioration of national integrity, and on
the other hand, the decrease in welfare and threat to economic integrity by being
included in the share of national income (Alexseev, 2011). Migration as a securitized
subject is both a threat to the survival of the state and can turn into social conflicts.
Right Wing and Territorial Populism
Xenophobia, which is one of the main elements of the far-right movement, is the
enmification of individuals with different identities and ethnic origins other than the
native in a society by turning them into subjects of fear. The far-right ideology, which
states that foreigners threaten the foundations of the homogeneous nation-state as a
figure of fear that undermines security, is characterized by Islamophobia, antisemitism,
authoritarian tendencies and adherence to patriarchal traditions (Mudde, 2022, p. 37-
43). Populism performs this state of crisis, in which fear and threat are involved, and
they use their performance and style quite effectively (Moffitt, 2016). In order to address
the perception of fear and threat against foreigners, it is necessary to go to their roots.
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For proponents of authoritarian values, who see the world as unstable, uncertain and full
of various threats, any security challenge must be responded to by militaristic means
(Norris & Inglehart, 2019, s. 76-79). It emphasizes the defending of national interests
and local culture from current global trends such as globalization, multiculturalism, new
age and woke cultures. While far-right populism talks about the primacy of the native
population and the indigenous, the concept of the border, which emphasizes the
protection of the territory they live in, is in fact closely linked to populism.
The concept of territorial populism (Mazzoleni, 2024) in the literature can
contribute to this study, which deals with the anti-migration and anti-immigrant nature
of far-right populism. The existence of sovereignty over a particular territory is related
to the borders of that territory (Williams, 2009). Although the concept of borders is
discussed from different perspectives like political, sociological, geographical, cultural,
anthropological and economical, it concretizes the existence of a land separated from
the whole within the borders (Wilson & Donnan, 2012). The conceptual framework of
populism actually tries to theorize by underlining the boundaries and the distinctions of
two different political actors such as X and Y. Territorial populism, like rigt wing
populism, emphasizes the need to preserve borders for the sustainability of national
unity and global problems such as migration, which increase the permeability of
borders, are a threat to national unity (Mazzoleni, 2024, p. 105-109). Far-right populist
leaders claim that they created the practice of protecting national borders in order to
protect national sovereignty. Typical examples are Donald Trump's recommendation to
construct a wall on the border between the United States and Mexico, and Hungarian
Prime Minister Viktor Orban constructing a wall against the influx of refugees from
Serbia and Croatia. Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro's statement that the international
community's warnings about the amazon forests in his country are an attempt to restrict
his country's sovereignty reveals the relationship between sovereignty and border
security (BBC News, 2019).
The Brexit process in the UK is a typical example of sovereignty and border security
that can be characterized as territorial populism. The active role and populist discourse
of the right-wing populist United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in this process
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led to the referendum process resulting in independence and the rise of Euroscepticism
(Öner, 2021).
Border Security: As a Constitutive Part of Anti-Migration in Europe after
Ukraine-Russia War
As the Ukraine-Russia war continues, right-wing populist actors in Europe have
achieved electoral success (Temizer, 2022). In Hungary, Orban consolidated his power
by winning the elections again while in France, Marine Le Pen and the National Front
reached the highest vote share in its history. Le Pen's vote in the French presidential and
parliamentary elections of 2022 was driven by the anti-Brussels and independenceist
emphasis of her political and economic theses (Üste & Mantoğlu, 2023). In Finland,
which decided to join NATO after the war in Ukraine, the conservative National
Coalition became the first party in the general elections. Social democratic Prime
Minister Sanna Marin resigns as leader of her party. The Sweden Democrats, a far-right
party with neo-Nazi roots, came second in Sweden's parliamentary elections. The
Sweden Democrats, with their anti-immigrant rhetoric, have stated that they will
implement measures to restrict immigration in order to make the country safe
(Wertheimer, 2022; Sands, 2022).
An important victory for the far right in Europe was in Italy, where a right-wing
alliance including the far-right Brothers of Italy party (Fdl) led by Giorgia Meloni won
a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Italy increased defense
and military spending under Meloni's presidency (Bir, 2023). In Italy, there are
measures to restrict migration with a territorial populist emphasis on border security.
Emphasizing the mission of the European Union Border Protection Agency (Frontex)
to protect the EU's external borders, Meloni called for a coordinated team effort to
overcome the migrant crisis and instructed the army to rapidly build repatriation centers
for migrants to be deported (T24, 2023). In addition, an agreement was signed between
Italy and Albania. Under this agreement, migrants who are caught in Italian territorial
waters will be sent to migration centers in Albania, where Italy will pay for the
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construction of these centers and Albania will provide law enforcement personnel (BBC
Türkçe, 2023).
EU strengthened its border regime in Eastern Europe after the Ukraine-Russia war
(Akkerman, Bhriain, & Valeske, 2023). The European Commission supports internal
security and border management activities in Moldova after the Russian army entered
the eastern territory of Ukraine, where the EU acts as a border guard (European
Commission, 2022). EU member Poland, whose geopolitical importance has increased
with the Ukraine-Russia war (Erol & Başaran, 2022), is increasing security measures
on its border with Belarus (The Guardian, 2023).
Conclusions
In Europe, border security measures have been rapidly increased after the Ukraine-
Russia war, while readmission agreements are aimed at restricting migration. In an
attempt to prevent illegal migrants from Africa and the Middle East, the EU has opened
its doors to millions of Ukrainian migrants. The architects of anti-migration policies,
which are a product of the securitization process, far-right populists manipulated
feelings of insecurity and uncertainty in the atmosphere of war and reconstructed
migration as an element of fear and threat. Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia are an
example of this situation. Right-wing and left-wing populists in Slovakia securitize
Ukrainian refugees, seeing them as negative actors who can threaten domestic peace
and affect economic prosperity (Stefancik, Bilikova, & Goloshchuk, 2023).
The conjuncture of the Ukraine-Russia war triggered far-right populism, which
increased xenophobia and racism in Europe and created an alt-right culture. They define
themselves as an alternative movement that defends traditional and established values,
challenging globalization against the destructiveness of Western cultural codes
(Hermansson, Lawrence, Mulhall, & Murdoch, 2023). With their confrontational and
terrorizing style, alt-right groups play an active role in the securitization of migration,
just like far-right populists.
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The measures taken by European countries against migration can actually be seen
as a contradiction to the founding values of the European Union. The building of walls
and barbed wire to secure borders and the inclusion of surveillance and border
technologies in this process raises many ethical questions (Özdemir, 2023, p. 170-173).
In addition, the UK's plan to send migrants to Rwanda and the floating prison
phenomenon are anti-humanitarian and unethical.
Since migration is a multi-dimensional and multi-actor phenomenon, it is necessary
to thoroughly analyze the causes of migration. In cases of migration due to armed
conflict, such as the Ukraine-Russia war, diplomacy and dialogue channels should be
maintained to stop the conflict.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Author Contact Information
E-mail: amantolu@yahoo.com
nazmiuste@windowslive.com
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Cite this article as Mantoğlu S.A.,Uste.,A.(2023). Migration to Europe and right-wing populism in the
context of the Ukrainian-Russian war. International Journal of Humanities and Social Development
Research. Volume 7 (2). pp. 7-18. DOI: 10.30546/2523-4331.2023.7.2.7
