Marriage of Love? Cross‐Fertilisation Between Illiberalism and Euroscepticism

Abstract The article contributes to the conceptual mapping of the interaction between Euroscepticism and illiberalism, suggesting that there is a mutual reinforcement process between them. The overlaps cover the following areas: the critique of supranationalism, the resulting defence of national sovereignty, the defence of the (national) majority against any outside interference and a critical look at liberal norms and values. We argue that the cross‐fertilisation between illiberalism and Euroscepticism occurs primarily in the domains of the cultural and value bases of politics. Euroscepticism and illiberalism feed each other's arguments, in some cases even proving unable to exist effectively without each other in the long term. The interconnection of the two concepts is demonstrated by three examples of European parties that are described in the literature as both Eurosceptic and illiberal (Alternative for Germany [AfD], Fidesz and Smer).