Bad external actors and good nuclear energy: Media discourse on energy supplies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

For Central and Eastern European countries, energy security has been one of the top political topics ever since the 2009 gas crisis. Although these countries have a shared interest in this issue, their preferences – especially those regarding the role of Russia as their main energy supplier – are not identical. This paper examines and juxtaposes the discourses on natural gas supply in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Utilizing a broadly constructivist perspective, the article explores the media discourses connected to energy supplies in these countries. Methodologically, the paper employs critical discourse analysis to examine this discourse. The paper argues that the media discourses in both countries underline the overall unreliability of the external environment and stress the necessity to rely on domestic energy sources. In the Czech case, such an environment also includes the EU, which translates into a critical stance towards renewable energy, viewed as being forced on country by the EU. In contrast, the Slovak discourse presents the EU as a suitable arena for energy cooperation. Both countries agree on the support for nuclear energy, which is considered to be a domestic – and therefore most reliable – energy source.