EU

This article examines how the situation in the world and the tactical and strategic responses to the Coronavirus pandemic affect the EU’s aspiration for unity (of action and messages) and its active presence in the international field. Was the European reaction flexible and balanced enough? Did Europe exit stronger after the challenge? Specific emphasis is placed on the analysis of whether and to what extent the Coronavirus made senseless the so called “European values” or, conversely, stressed even more clearly the need for European solidarity in the recovery process.

Although populist parties and movements have increased their electoral influ- ence for many years, the economic crises in the Eurozone, as well as the re- cent refugee crisis, have given new impetus to this trend. Both Eurosceptic and anti-elitist discourse, well reflecting broad public attitudes and opinions, fuels populist parties and movements that are becoming increasingly visible in the political arena of the Member-states and at the European level. The aim of this text is to analyze anti-elitism as one of the main characteristics of populism in the context of the mutually reinforcing crises in the EU.