The Schengen Debate: How Disinformation Drives Euroscepticism


Published Wednesday 22 January 2025 at 17:26

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As part of BROD activities, researchers from SNSPA (Romania) and NTCenter (Bulgaria) studied how the Schengen debate in both countries is affected by disinformation and is driving eurosceptic attitudes.

This study examines the influence of media disinformation about Romania and Bulgaria’s delayed accession to the Schengen Area on public attitudes toward the European Union (EU), highlighting its role in fostering Euroscepticism. The Schengen Area, central to European integration, enables free movement by eliminating border controls. Despite joining the EU in 2007, Romania and Bulgaria's full Schengen integration remained stalled, with partial accession (air borders control lifted) approved as of March 31, 2024, and full accession entered into force as of January 1st, 2025. Throughout the debate, political and technical concerns, recently further compounded by factors like Romania’s border with Ukraine, have made this issue a prime target for misleading narratives.

Using experimental designs with representative online panels in Romania (N=895) and Bulgaria (N=912), this research explores how exposure to disinformation across mainstream, alternative, and social media impacts EU attitudes.

Findings reveal that disinformation heightens Euroscepticism in both countries, with notable differences. In Romania, this effect is consistent across media types, while in Bulgaria, mainstream media exerts a stronger influence, reflecting higher trust in traditional outlets. Notably, neither the perceived importance of Schengen, nor political ideology, moderates these effects.

This study underscores disinformation’s power to shape EU perceptions, especially in contested contexts like Schengen accession. It confirms prior findings that negative media narratives amplify anti-EU sentiments and shows, for the first time, that EU-specific disinformation intensifies Euroscepticism. Policymakers, journalists, and media regulators must address disinformation with context-sensitive strategies across all media, not just social platforms. Fact-checkers and leaders should focus on transparent communication to rebuild public trust.

The study is currently under review for publication. Details will be available once the paper is published.

BROD