Hungary as a Norm Entrepreneur in Migration Policy

Abstract

This paper analyses Hungary as a small state within the EU and the policy it applied during the refugee crisis of 2015/2016 that changed the landscape both on the European and Hungarian level. During the crisis, Hungary acted as a small, interest-maximizing Member State constrained by domestic political interests and it did not only refuse to participate in common European policy proposals to solve the crisis, but it also engaged in unilateral actions perceived as solutions, such as erecting a border wall on the Southern border of Hungary. This paper examines how Hungary acted during the refugee crisis with the help of small state theories. Presenting the events, legislative changes and discourses surrounding migration policy in the past years will show that Hungary managed to take advantage of the refugee crisis by acting as a norm entrepreneur which gave the Prime Minister the opportunity to articulate his own views and convictions about the right way to solve the crisis and also about the future of the EU as a whole. Many EU Member States joined Hungary in its migration strategy and so it became the leading country of the anti-immigration block in Europe.