Who Do You Trust, East-Central-Europe? Analysis of Social Structures of Trust in the Visegrad Countries in the Light of the European Refugee Crisis

The European refugee crisis of 2015-2016 undoubtedly contributed to the reinvigoration of the East-West cleavage in the European Union, a rather overshadowed conflict line during the former “Euro-crisis”. European critics accused the Visegrad states (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) of lack of solidarity, responsibility and social inclusiveness, while the affected East-Central-European governments counter-argued with the concepts of national interest, democratic legitimacy, and an alleged federalist colonization of their countries by Brussels.

Can a crisis of confidence towards the European Union be experienced in the Union’s Eastern Member States? In light of the refugee crisis probably a bigger one than in the West? Based on the analysis of Eurobarometer and numerous other surveys the paper argues that the European Union still enjoys a significantly higher social acceptance in the Visegrad countries than in Western Europe, in spite of the increasing Eurosceptical self-positioning of the respective governments. However, it is true that this high level of trust in the EU could not remain unaffected during the past years, nor encompasses the issue of refugee policy.

Based on the research outcomes the paper concludes that neither a common pattern of the breach of trust toward the EU, nor a homogenous refusal of the EU refugee policy measures can be identified in the societies of the Visegrad countries. Furthermore, it can be claimed well justified that hardly any coherence exist between the social attitudes and the government positions related to the refugee crisis in the individual Visegrad countries.