Deconstructing the European Union's Securitization of Belarus
Author
Jensen, Gustav
Term
4. term
Publication year
2022
Submitted on
2022-10-15
Pages
50
Abstract
Dette speciale er et enkelt casestudie af situationen i Belarus efter præsidentvalget i 2020 og de efterfølgende protester. Det undersøger en resolution fra Europa-Parlamentet fra oktober 2021, vedtaget et år efter de voldelige protester. Analysen bygger på sekuritiseringsteori, som ser på, hvordan politiske aktører gør et emne til et sikkerhedsanliggende ved at beskrive det som en akut trussel, der kræver særlige tiltag. Specialet betragter Belarus som en sikkerhedskonstellation, dvs. et samspil af flere forudgående sikkerhedsproblemer. Metodisk gennemfører specialet en systematisk indholdsanalyse af resolutionen for at finde sekuritiseringforsøg. Disse identificeres ved at lede efter (1) en italesættelse af en trussel mod et referentobjekt – det, der anses for at skulle beskyttes, fx befolkningens rettigheder – og (2) foreslåede tiltag til at imødegå truslen. Resultatet viser, at Europa-Parlamentet anvender sekuritiseringer vedrørende trusler, der angår menneskerettigheder, Rusland, nuklear sikkerhed og terrorisme. Denne indramning bruges til at øge oplevelsen af hast og alvor og dermed fremhæve Belarus som et vigtigt sikkerhedsspørgsmål.
This thesis is a single case study of the situation in Belarus after the 2020 presidential election and the subsequent protests. It examines a European Parliament resolution from October 2021, adopted one year after the violent protests. The analysis uses securitization theory, which looks at how political actors turn an issue into a security matter by presenting it as an urgent threat that justifies special measures. The thesis views Belarus as a security constellation, meaning an interplay of several pre-existing security problems. Methodologically, the thesis conducts a systematic content analysis of the resolution to identify securitization attempts. These are located by looking for (1) the framing of a threat against a referent object—the thing deemed worthy of protection, such as people’s rights—and (2) proposed measures to mitigate the threat. The findings show that the European Parliament employs securitizations related to threats concerning human rights, Russia, nuclear safety, and terrorism. This framing serves to heighten the perceived urgency and severity of Belarus as a security issue.
[This summary has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
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