Austria and the EU’s joint COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy

How did the narratives about the EU and the process of getting the vaccines in 2021 change over time in Austria? How did Austrian media contribute to the spread of the narratives?

As Stefan Schaller, Paul Schmidt, Susan Milford-Faber from the Austrian Society for European Politics (ÖGfE) write: “Even in times of a pandemic, the Austrian media remain true to their traditional ideological and political editorial line when it comes to reporting on domestic politics and the EU. Quality media have sought to paint a rather balanced picture on the joint vaccine procurement and distribution. Depending on their political orientation, however, this was sometimes associated with very sharp criticism of the government. The tabloid media, on the other hand, took the challenges of the pandemic as an opportunity to express their skeptical stance towards the EU and present the Austrian Chancellor as the guardian of domestic interests.”

Read more about the narratives surrounding the vaccination process in the country in the paper Austria and the EU’s joint COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy. The case study is a part of a larger series, Narratives travelling the information space, supported by the National Endowment for Democracy.

For more information on similarities and central patterns concerning the Central European landscape vis-à-vis actors and messages weakening democracy and unity in the transatlantic space, please consult the  study “Drivers of Narratives Undermining Democracy & Transatlantic Unity” that identifies 11 drivers and provides 11 recommendations to counter them.