Uncertain Norms, Unintended Consequences: The Effects of European Union Integration on Kin-state Politics in Eastern Europe

摘要

This article investigates the effects of European Union (EU) accession on kin-state politics in Eastern Europe by focusing on the case of Hungary and the controversy over its 2001 'Status Law'. It is argued that the accession process did not diminish the salience of kin-state politics in Hungary, and in some ways even increased it. The lure of membership could not overcome the entrenched political interests of the elites most invested in maintaining and controlling relations with the ethnic Hungarian communities. At the same time, the imposition of the Schengen acquis and the often ambiguous position of the EU on minority rights protection helped drive the increasing intensity of Hungary's kin-state activism from 1998 to 2002. Together, these factors simultaneously raised the practical and political stakes of kin-state policies while providing little concrete guidance for states cut off from co-ethnics by the new external borders of Europe. The analysis supports the conclusion that the influence of the EU does not always have a moderating effect on regional tensions, particularly when its norms are not clearly defined, and the bases of elite political control are threatened by the implementation of its membership requirements.