The Romanian hidden tandem between populism and Euroscepticism. The case of the 2018 referendum on the definition of family in the Romanian Constitution

The puzzle to which this paper refers concerns the diffusion of Eurosceptical stances within Romanian mainstream parliamentary parties despite their official and total allegiance to the European project. As such, we aim to unpack the strategic utilization of Euroscepticism by the parliamentary parties in the context of the 2018 referendum for the definition of the family in the Romanian Constitution. Although connected to a domestic issue, the EU has been a resource used by the different camps to mobilize and forge consensus. Note that the topic of the referendum has been tackled by different others post-communist countries (e.g. Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia). The analysis uses qualitative content analysis of official statements and public discourses, and desk research.