Contestation of a Common EU Migration Policy Project in the CEE. The Evidence from Bulgaria and Poland

Being beneficiaries of the European funds and having a high level of public support towards European integration, both Poland and Bulgaria are are not eager to accept some of the EU policies or proposals for joint actions. One of the examples might be a critique towards possibility of creation of common migration policy of the EU, as well as opposition to mandatory quotas in the refugee relocation program proposed by the European Union in 2016. We argue that the rise of populism and Euroscepticism is fuelling anti-European stances, bringing xenophobic discourse to the mainstream of politics and strengthening anti-immigration rhetoric. This is possible to happen as the Europeanisation process in Bulgaria and Poland is far from being completed and discontent with the transformation and liberal order is overlapping with disappointment with politics in general. The paper analyse who and why is contesting the proposal of common migration policy of the EU, how the radical right populist discourse is spreading around the whole of political spectrum and what are the alternatives proposed by Bulgarian and Polish political elites.