Calam Gallacher Roig received the award with the following motivation: "Calam Gallacher Roig’s master thesis 'Love thy European Neighbour – but not for long?' provides a brilliant analysis of the highly topical question on how Ukrainian immigration is framed by mainstream right-wing German parties (Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU, Christian Social Union in Bavaria, CSU) and the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD). Calam’s solid research demonstrates how Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has impacted the politics of immigration in Germany and influenced the discourse of the mainstream political right. In a highly creative way, Calam examines each of the three parties’ YouTube accounts through a unique systematic coding scheme where he categorizes all speeches addressing the question of immigration from Ukraine. In the subsequent analysis, Calam employs a theoretical framework based on party competition research in which mainstream parties can either accommodate, confront, or dismiss the challenge presented by a party such as AfD. Calam finds convincing support for a combination of nuanced cooptation and moderate levels of confrontation by mainstream right-wing parties. The findings confirm that Ukrainian immigration is a deviant case and indicate that the CDU/CSU’s framing has been influenced by the AfD. Calam’s research has made a significant and innovative contribution to scholarship in political science."
Click here to read our interview with Calam.
Ida Welén received the award with the following motivation from the jury: "Ida Welén's bachelor’s thesis 'Strategic Altruism: Analyzing Development Aid for Donor Strategic Objectives. A Quantitative Analysis of the Strategic Interests Influencing European Aid Flows' contributes to a deeper understanding of the geopolitics of aid from the perspective of individual donor countries within the EU providing bilateral aid. It focuses on bilateral development efforts from the EU Member States towards the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. On the basis of a quantitative statistical analysis, Ida discusses several hypotheses and emphasizes important factors such as national security interests, increased trade relations between donor states and EaP states, closer geographic proximity to EaP states and right-wing influence within the parliaments of donor states. The analysis is highly impressive and sophisticated, especially being at the bachelor level, and is firmly grounded in realist International Relations through ‘Donor-Interest’ models. The findings demonstrate the internal foreign policy divides of the EU, questioning a united approach to the European Neighbourhood Policy. Ida’s thesis convincingly emphasises an issue of great concern in development aid policy."
Click here to read our interview with Ida.