Ústav mezinárodních vztahů

Our researcher Benjamin Tallis commented on the UK referendum held on Thursday, 23 June 2016 in his articles Fear and Loathing in the UK and “Hlupáci neodhalili, co vše se může stát”.  He analysed the reasons behind Brexit, such as the role of anti-EU campaigners and the weakness of the ‘remainers’. Furthermore, the benefits which both the UK and the EU gained during the process of the UK’s membership have been highlighted in the article. 

Ahead of the referendum, following the death of Labour Member of Parliament Jo Cox, the EU referendum campaigns were suspended, and Benjamin Tallis stated his views on this for the Czech public TV broadcasting company ČT24.  He also made remarks on the pros and cons of media campaigns and their influence on society.

Furthermore, Tallis reflected on the political landscape in the UK in his video about Labour´s current crisis, which was published on the IIR YouTube channel. 

Benjamin Tallis and Chris Johnstone commented on David Cameron’s EU reform deal, which the British Prime Minister hoped would keep Britain in the EU, for the Czech public radio broadcasting service Český rozhlas. One of the discussion topics before Brexit was the issue of social payments regarding immigrants in the UK, and they also commented on this topic. 

Another researcher who expressed his views on the situation in the European Union that arose from the Brexit vote was Jan Kovář. On the TV programme Studio ČT24 he commented on the related statement made by the President of the European Parliament and the logical decision of Theresa May to follow the interests of both her party and the country in the cabinet forming. Moreover, the victory of pragmatism in leading to the best possible agreement for both of the main British political parties during the Brexit process was emphasised. The British-German relations were also mentioned in the interview.

In the context of Brexit and EU reform, Kovář also made remarks on the significance of the Visegrad Group for the Czech Republic and its sometimes higher coordination ability in comparison to that of the EU.

The British-German relations and their future development were more closely discussed on Czech Radio, where Kovář pointed out the importance of building personal diplomacy with the leaders of Germany and France due to the countries’ key positions within the EU, making reference to Theresa May´s first foreign trip. The likelihood of an eventual comparison of British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel because of their strong leaderships was mentioned by him in the TV programme Horizont ČT24. Additionally, Kovář does not expect snap elections in the United Kingdom in spite of the split political situation and the pressure on the Conservative Party.

In the Czech Television programme Studio 6 Jan Kovář focused on Brexit’s impact on the Czech Republic, the debate over Czexit and its potential misuse in the upcoming presidential elections.

Jan Kovář was also interviewed in two Slovak magazines, and in these interviews, he responded to questions about the future of the EU, and the emotional arguments and populism used during the Vote Leave campaign along with the topic of the distribution of the constituency in terms of votes for and against Brexit and the impact of the current situation on Czechs and Slovaks living in the UK. On the Slovak radio station Radio Expres he warned about the rise of nationalism in countries with strengthening far-right and eurosceptic parties. A similar issue was touched on in a Czech Radio interview, where Kovář commented on not only the attempts at deepening the EU integration, but also the attempts at calling referenda for whether the given country will stay in or leave the EU. The enlargement of the Eurozone, the attitudes of politicians of countries outside it and the results of the Brussels Summit were remarked upon by him in this interview too. 

Similarities and differences of opinion between Angela Merkel and Theresa May were also discussed by Vladimír Handl on the Czech Televison channel ČT24. He implied that there was a possible conflict of opinion on the matter of Brexit between them due to their different views on the timeframe of the Article 50 trigger.

Just before the referendum, in the video “5 Minutes from World Politics”, Vít Beneš evaluated the British debate about Brexit and reasoned about the possibility of the UK leaving the EU. Moreover, he analysed potential EU reactions to Brexit, which, in his opinion, would consist of renewed pressure on maintaining a multi-speed Europe and a turn to an intergovernmental model. Beneš also expressed his support for structural and personnel changes within the EU.

The director of the Institute of International Relations, Petr Kratochvíl, also contributed to the debate related to Brexit in an interview for Czech Television addressing the immediate reaction of the EU representatives to the Brexit vote and discussing the trigger of Article 50 together with the timeframe arranged for a definite agreement. Attention was also paid to the great powers´ perception of the EU without the UK. However, according to Kratochvíl, the question is how these countries will perceive Great Britain, not the other way around.

On Czech Radio Petr Kratochvíl stressed the importance of the unified external position of the EU during the negotiation process regarding Brexit, and he touched upon the topic of the future of the European integration, which will, in his opinion, be neither softening nor speeding up. 

Also Tomáš Profant´s article "Riskantné omyly Brexitu", published in the Slovak daily Pravda.sk, dealt with the reasons related to the UK referendum, such as the UK’s migration policy towards citizens from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland, and the general change in the political situation in the UK. 

Last but not least, Emmanuel Sigalas, an Associate Research Fellow of the IIR, contributed to the London School of Economics and Political Science article "European Views on the UK’s Renegotiation: Ireland, Portugal, Austria and Croatia", focusing in his contribution on the attention paid to Brexit in Austria and the petition demanding an "Auxit" referendum.

To conclude, IIR researchers analysed Brexit and its consequences as a crucial topic for the EU. Our specialists on the European Union, its integration, EU institutional reform, the political economy of Europe and European security issues have been interviewed not only on the radio, but also on television, and at the same time they contributed to the academic debate about Brexit thanks to their published articles.