Meine Cookie EinstellungenEurope in the Shadows: ambivalent border narratives in minority media in European borderlands
Nicolson M, Engl A, Mitterhofer J, Opiłowska E, Klatt M, Balogh P, Bączkiewicz D
Projekt: ABI - Die Rolle von Grenzen für die Wahrnehmung europäischer Gesellschaften
This article explores how minority news media report on borders and Europe during moments of perceived crisis across five European borderland contexts: in Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Slovakia. Specifically, we investigate the role of key de- and re-bordering events, including the 2015 so-called ‘migration crisis’ and the COVID-19 pandemic, in shaping perceptions of borders and the European project. Recent re-bordering events have been seen to pose a threat to borderland communities, and national minorities, specifically. The empirical data are based on a thematic analysis of 1,705 news articles from six minority newspapers. Through the analysis, we develop an understanding of how national minority newspapers report on borders, and how Europe and the European Union (EU) are framed within reporting. The analysis uncovers how border narratives relate to the wider EU project, and reveals that open borders are of particular importance to borderland communities, who feel increasingly detached from state-level decision makers. Our findings point to a banal expression of Europeanism in borderland regions where we expected stronger connections with Europe and the EU. These findings lead us to hypothesize on the future of the European project and highlight the often-invisible perspective of national minorities in border and European studies.
DOI: 10.1080/14782804.2025.2577142