Hungary's Populist Government and the Contestation of EU Foreign Policy Co-Operation at the United Nations: Dogs That Bark Do Not Bite?

Abstract

This article provides an analysis of Hungary's role in EU foreign policy co-operation at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in the period from its accession to the EU in 2004 till 2021, which involved the shift from mainstream parties to successive governments led by the populist radical right (PRR) Fidesz party. Shifting attention to norm contestation in EU foreign policy co-operation, it examines the extent to which Hungary's PRR government has contested or adapted to the EU's culture of co-operation in its UNGA voting behaviour. Our empirical analysis compares Hungary's voting record at the UNGA under the PRR government that gained power in 2010 to both previous mainstream governments in Hungary and mainstream governments in other EU member states. The article shows that populist contestation dynamics at the level of foreign policy behaviour are more limited than often assumed, whilst also pointing to the robustness of key procedural Common Foreign and Security Policy norms.