This paper is a contribution to the academic debate on populism and Islamophobia in contemporary Europe. Its goal is to analyze Czech President Miloš Zeman's strategy in using the term "security" in his first term of office. Methodologically speaking, the text is established as a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS) of a data set created from all of Zeman's speeches, interviews, statements, and so on, which were processed using MAXQDA11+. This paper shows that the dominant treatment of the phenomenon of security expressed by the President is primarily linked to the creation of the vision of Islam and immigration as the absolute largest threat to contemporary Europe. Another important finding lies in the fact that Zeman instrumentally utilizes rhetoric such as "not Russia, but Islam", which stems from Zeman's relationship to Putin's authoritarian regime. Zeman's conceptualization of Islam and migration follows the typical principles of contemporary right-wing populism in Europe.

No abstract

The Isles of Deviation" in Populist Rhetorics of Miloš Zeman. This text contributes to current discussion related to political populism. From Zeman's inauguration speech, we deduced three thematic areas (corruption, extremism, media). Based on these issues and using CAQDAS, we examined the correlation between Zeman's rhetoric and theoretical framework of populism. The dataset for our analysis consists of whole Zeman's textual production during his first presidential term. Our effort was focused on how Miloš Zeman creates basic elements of populism (the people, the elites, the others) in relation to corruption, extremism, and media. Our analysis has shown that some basic principles of political populism have been frequently present in his speeches. Contrary to some other quite often cases of overusing of the concept of populism and using this concept without any proper empirical evidence, the main goal of our article was (based on the transparently explained theoretical and methodological framework) to clearly show that Miloš Zeman is populist. Our research can be used as a standpoint for broader comparative research of populism.

No abstract

The focus of this study lies in the instrumental use of history as a tool for the legitimization of political claims. Our paper is related to the Slovak National Uprising, which plays a crucial role in the national mythology of Slovakia. This role is a reason why the annual celebrations of this historical event are one of the most important political occasions in the country. Many politicians use the celebrations as an opportunity to highlight many political issues and address a broad audience. Using semi-participant observation, we analysed five anniversary celebrations of the event (2015–2019) and the securitization strategies inherited in the speeches of politicians at the celebrations. We showed that not only topics related to the legacy of the anti-fascist uprising (e.g. contemporary right-wing extremism) are securitized or serve as objects of the creation of moral panic during these events. Some other, unrelated actors/phenomena are securitized or labelled as a threat as well – especially immigration and the politics of the EU. This fact notwithstanding, the legacy of the SNU was always used for the legitimization of securitization/creation of moral panic.