Populism and reform movements in Central and Eastern Europe

With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, new democracy and reform movements developed in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe to bring about change in their countries. After great initial enthusiasm, many people became increasingly disappointed with the neoliberal economic reforms of the 1990s. The populist promises to restore the ‘old splendour’ and thus return privileges to the former beneficiaries fell on fertile ground: Today, populist parties are in government in several states. (Right-wing) populists have also made significant gains in established Western democracies. The rise of populism therefore poses challenges not only for individual states but also for the European Union as a whole.

This year's KAAD seminar on Eastern Europe, chaired by Markus Leimbach, will deal with this complex topic.

In an introductory lecture, Bonn-based political scientist Professor Andreas Heinemann-Grüder first outlined the development of democracy and authoritarianism in Central and Eastern Europe.  He made it clear that the decline in democracy that he has observed since 2005 is not a purely Eastern European development, but also affects Western Europe, as the examples of Italy and Austria show. Concerning the overall development in Eastern Europe, he referred to the dilemma of simultaneity: the re-emergence of individual states, combined with the simultaneous change in the political system and the economic system, had led to a strengthening of populist movements. Another problem was the failure to remove the old political elites from office: to prevent a possible counter-revolution, former civil servants were integrated into new government systems and are now, as in Georgia, taking on political responsibility again.

Andreas Heinemann-Grüder's lecture was supplemented by presentations from participants from Lithuania, Hungary and Ukraine. Their insights highlighted and critically analysed the developments in the individual countries. KAAD scholar Peter Kiss from Hungary explained the Euroscepticism in Hungary. Hungary was initially politically and economically independent after 1990. However, when Hungary joined the EU in 2004, after a period of great euphoria, a new feeling of dependence arose. Populists such as the Hungarian Civic Union (Magyar Polgári Szövetség - Fidesz for short) took this up to strengthen Hungarian nationalism.

For Lithuania, KAAD scholar Egle Rudoskaite shows that there has been an increase in populist tendencies in recent years and that populists have even been elected to government but have not been able to fulfil this responsibility. In Lithuania, civil society is becoming increasingly involved in maintaining democratic structures.

In Ukraine, democratic structures have been weakened by the war, but civil society involvement has increased, and there is political interest in the democratic organisation of the country. KAAD scholar Anna Chyrwa drew particular attention to the decisive influence of the media, which has a very strong impact on opinion forming and must therefore be viewed critically.

Renovabis project officer Christiana Hägele presented the perspective of a Catholic aid organisation. The balancing act between supporting necessary projects for churches and NGOs and the respective political situation in a country is particularly challenging in many cases, as Christiana Hägele demonstrated using examples from Hungary, Belarus and Serbia.

Influenced by their own experiences, the participants, who came from ten different countries, addressed the topic in working groups and developed personal options for action. Everyone felt it was important that young people, especially those with experience abroad, can bring new impetus to society and thus bring about change. It was seen as critical that in many countries politicians use their position of power for their purposes and do not always work for the good of society. It was very important for everyone that general media skills needed to be improved to recognise and classify fake news and agitation in social media better.

The seminar was accompanied by Fr. Professor Thomas Eggensperger OP, spiritual advisor to the KAAD. He reflected on the experiences of the seminar in a closing service. The seminar ended with a guided tour of Münster and a joint visit to the Christmas market.