No return to the borders of the past? Cross-border nationalism and European integration in times of crises

Abstract

This study examines how kin-minority parties respond to European integration. Kin-minority parties are political parties that claim to represent a national minority in the state where the minority lives (the host-state). At the same time, kin-minority parties claim that “their” minority is part of a larger nation that constitutes the national majority in a neighbouring state (the kin-state). The status of a kin-minority is not a priori given but is constituted by kin-minority parties’ continuous interactions with other actors in the kin-state and in the host-state. European integration affects these interactions in three ways. It disperses sovereignty away from state centres; it perpetuates the geographical location of state borders and makes borders less disruptive to cross-border interaction; and it can modify collective identities by making them less antagonistic. Crises of European integration can partially reverse these processes. Kin-minority parties have three broad options for responding to these dynamics. They may adopt border-shifting, border-transcending or border-crossing approaches. Border-shifting parties reject the effects of European integration because it prevents them from pursuing the kin-minority’s territorial integration into the kin-state. Border-transcending parties endorse European integration because it facilitates the kin-minority’s accommodation within the host-state and cross-border cooperation with the kin-state. Border-crossing parties adopt a mixed approach, endorsing open state borders but rejecting other effects of European integration. This study compares the dynamics of European integration and kin-minority parties’ responses in South Tyrol and Northern Ireland. It arrives at two key findings. Firstly, all kin-minority parties endorse European integration’s border-opening effects. Since the 1990s, border-crossing approaches have superseded border-shifting ones. Border-transcending parties’ endorsement of open state borders has been reinforced. This even holds true despite multiple crises of European integration. Secondly, the dispersion of sovereignty and the modification of collective identities do not significantly alter kin-minority parties. Border-transcending parties endorse these effects because of their pre-existing inclination towards cooperative politics. Border-crossing parties remain critical of these effects.