ABSTRACT

Observing the European political arena, one may have the impression that Euroscepticism is alive and well, and active in both the new and old EU member states. One proof of this could be served by the relatively good performance of parties critical of the European Union (EU) and European integration in the 2014 European Parliament elections. Continuing anti-European arguments have been enriched and developed by new Eurosceptic political groupings. The arguments of anti-European political parties in Poland and Hungary before accession to the European Union were to some extent comparable, also because the countries shared similar historical experiences, including communist heritage and similar manners of transformation. Before analysing each country's party system and positions on European integration, one needs to notice that, apart from the rather high public support towards European integration and the EU, the societies of the CEE are not so interested in the realisation of EU politics or in politics in general.