FOG OF EMERGENCY: ILLIBERALISM, SOVEREIGNTY, AND THE ILLUSION OF UNITY IN DIVERSITY

This thesis looks at the COVID-19 pandemic as a political stress test for the European Union (EU), focusing on how the crisis advanced illiberal trends in Hungary and Poland while highlighting flaws in EU crisis management. The paper examines how the Orban regime and Poland's Law and Justice party (PiS) used the pandemic to extend executive power, avoid oversight, and remove democratic checks. Guided by three research questions, it investigates national responses, the effectiveness of EU mechanisms, and the intersect of public health and political strategy. The findings suggest that the pandemic exacerbated democratic backsliding and exposed institutional flaws within the EU, as both states asserted sovereignty and resisted integration. This analysis contributes to broader discussions about the resilience of liberal democracy in times of crises, as well as the EU's ability to retain its fundamental values in the face of growing nationalist resistance.