Talking About ‘International Sovereignty’: A Comparative Analysis of the Identity and Democracy Parties Campaigning in the 2019 European Elections

The chapter is focused on a comparative analysis of the electoral campaigns of political parties belonging to EU Parliament Group Identity and Democracy in the 2019 EU Elections with the aim of identifying the similarities and common elements capable of identifying a communication strategy that can be used as a model for talking about “international sovereignty”. The results show that each political party maintains its own communication strategy, and the attempt to create a campaign more focused on the ID Group than on individual parties seems to have failed. Even if the ID parties’ campaigns present several similarities, such as the issues most covered, the constant appeal to the people which characterizes the populist dimension of the group, the negative representation of EU, the central role of immigration issues which define the type of right-wing populist narratives, the direct contact with the electorate through the social media, the use of highly polarised language and negative campaigning that are typical characteristics of digital populism, the attempt to create a campaign more focused on the group than on individual parties, as claimed in the two Milan initiatives by Matteo Salvini and Marine Le Pen, seems not to have become real. The interaction between some of the leaders and the relevant use of the web seems to be the only traits relating to the transnational trends of the ID group. The analysis conducted outlines similarities and common elements capable of identifying a communication strategy that can be used as a model for talking about international sovereignty, but the common goal to build electoral consensus for a Europe of nations is pursued by political forces largely independently, focusing on national election campaigns in line with their sovereign and nationalist character.