Co vlastně znamená evropský? Česko, Rumunsko a východní rozšíření Evropské unie v německém tisku

Abstract

What Does European Mean, In This Case? The Czech Republic, Romania, and the Eastward Expansion of the European Union in the German Press

Starting with the mid-1990s, the present contribution deals with the discussion in the German press of the eastward expansion of the European Union. The author deliberately chose to focus on two new members, the Czech Republic and Romania, in order to demonstrate that the recurring leitmotifs and narratives of the debate can be traced back to the semantics of specific possibilities of how to describe social space and its dynamics. Three paradigmatic notions of social space are evaluated and their consequences for describing and assessing “old” and “new” regions of the EU analyzed. In the media debate, however, these notions have always remained implicit, never have they been named, never has any reflection been voiced about them. Also striking is the fact that they have been used in the same sense by papers of differing political orientation and that there has been very little change over time.

Keywords: Czech Republic, Romania, EU Enlargement, discourse analysis, German press