The Discourse on the 2024 Russian Elections in Central and Eastern European States in the Context of National Identity Construction
https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2025-16-4-158-170
Abstract
The article analyzes the political discourse (including expert and media discourse) in post-socialist Central and Eastern European countries regarding the 2024 Russian presidential election. The authors consider the discourse on Russian electoral processes as a tool for constructing European identity based on the “friend-foe” divide. The study aims to identify the influence of domestic political processes in Russia on the self-identification of the countries of “new” Europe in comparison with the Russian Federation as a significant “Other,” which Central and Eastern European countries resort to in the course of national identity construction. This process is viewed as a cornerstone for binding the “European” identity of Central and Eastern European countries with their transition from socialist past. The latter, in turn, is associated with a discursive separation from Russia and the transformation of the image of the “foreign” into the image of the “enemy,” both in regard to their history and the current crisis in Russo-Western relations. Upon conducting discourse and comparative analyses, it is concluded that the very contraposition of European “democracy” and Russian “authoritarianism” serves not only to construct enemy images in the Central and Eastern European states, but also to assert their own European identity. Foreign policy issues, however, do not play a defining role, and if they are articulated in discourse, they are related neither to relations with European states nor with the European Union.
About the Authors
V. A. Gatskovskaya
HSE University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Varvara A. Gatskovskaya, Research Fellow at the Center for International and Regional
17, Malaya Ordynka street, Moscow, 119017
Competing Interests:
Авторы заявляют об отсутствии потенциального конфликта интересов.
D. M. Kurbatov
MGIMO University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Dmitry M. Kurbatov, Analyst, Institute for International Studies
76, Vernadsky avenue, Moscow, 119454
Competing Interests:
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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Review
For citations:
Gatskovskaya V.A., Kurbatov D.M. The Discourse on the 2024 Russian Elections in Central and Eastern European States in the Context of National Identity Construction. Journal of International Analytics. 2025;16(4):158-170. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2025-16-4-158-170
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