Securitization of the Migration Crisis and Islamophobic Rhetoric: The 2016 Slovak Parliamentary Elections as a Case Study

Abstract

This paper focuses on the migration crisis from the perspective of Slovakia while examining the impact of the crisis on the last parliamentary elections in 2016. The migration/refugee crisis that started in 2015 played a significant role during the pre-electoral discourse and political campaigns. This paper has two main goals. The primarily goal is to apply the theory of securitization as proposed by the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute on the case study of Slovakia, and the secondary goal is to analyze the 2016 Slovak general elections. In here, I describe the securitization processes, actors, and other components of the case. Subsequently, I focus on a key element of this theory that is linked to the speech act. I evaluate Islamophobia manifestations in speech act and political manifesto of Slovak political parties. My source base includes the rhetoric of nationalist political parties such as Direction-SD (Smer-SD), Slovak National Party (Slovenská národná strana), We Are Family-Boris Kollár (Sme Rodina-Boris Kollár), and Kotleba-People' Party Our Slovakia (Kotleba-Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko), all of which often apply anti-Muslim and anti-Islam rhetoric.

Islamophobic Discourse of Czech Politicians and Political Parties on Twitter during the 2015 Migration Crisis

“…We compare our results with the findings of these authors. For this study, we have decided to use the securitization theory of the Copenhagen school, which has been already used by Zvada for his qualitative study of Islamophobic rhetoric during the Slovak parliamentary elections (Zvada 2018). It may offer an opportunity to compare Czech and Slovak Islamophobic tendencies in politics within the same theoretical framework and allow more comparative research in the field of Islamophobia in Central Eastern Europe 6 (Zvada 2018, 220;Lijphart 1971, 691).…”

Where Were the Voters? A Spatial Analysis of the 2019 Slovak Presidential Election

“…12 Slovakia's 2019 presidential election was conspicuously determined by the domestic political background much more than any other election ever. The Government was formed after the 2016 general election which brought an unwonted and ideologically-heterogeneous coalition composed of social democratic Smer-SD, nationalist Slovenská národná strana (SNS, Slovak National Party), centre-right #Sieť (#Network), and Most-Híd (The Bridge), a Slovak-Hungarian party (Just, 2019;Rybář, Spáč, 2017;Zvada 2018;Filipec 2019). This Fico's third Cabinet was set up and agreed, although, in their campaigns the latter two political parties openly proclaimed that lacked any intention to join a coalition composed of Fico's Smer-SD.…”

On Gender and Illiberalism: Lessons From Slovak Parliamentary Debates

“…In this context, gender issues in Slovakia have also experienced a turbulent decade. Like other countries in CEE, the main anti-gender and anti-LGBTQ waves erupted after the 2015 migration crisis when extremist and populist actors utilised Islamophobic rhetoric and then entered the Slovak parliament (Zvada, 2018). Subsequently, they have also started attacking the civil rights of underprivileged groups, mainly LGBTQ people.…”