THE IMPACT OF EUROSCEPTICISM IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC CARRIED OUT IN RELATION TO EUROPEAN UNION POLICIES DURING A PANDEMIC

The article examines the phenomenon of Euroscepticism in the Czech Republic and its impact on Czech policy towards the EU and individual member states of this political and economic association during the COVID-19 crisis. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that the pandemic crisis has revealed how fragile the ideas of building a United Europe really are. The virus has become a threat to the foundations of the European economic and financial systems. The rapid and uncoordinated closure of borders has had the greatest impact on the countries of the so-called geographic periphery.
The authors of the article present the data from the reports of the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic for 2018-2019. The data show that the Czech Republic does not belong to the “donor” countries and has a pronounced profit from participation in the considered association. However, the Czech Republic retains its leading position in terms of Euroscepticism, despite all the existing advantages for economic development. The article presents the results of the 2017 Eurobarometer public opinion polls regarding the approval of the country's membership in the EU, support for the ongoing migration policy, and the introduction of the euro. For writing, the work "Foreign policy program of the Czech Republic during the coronavirus" on May 7, 2020 is used. The authors conclude about the prevalence of Eurosceptic views within the Czech Republic, according to the surveys of the population of the Czech Republic, vector of the European policy of this state and political processes within the country. This trend continues during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Czech Republic has always been an EU member state with one of the highest levels of Euroscepticism. This, of course, had a significant impact on it foreign policy. This only affected the conduct of a common European foreign and integration policy until March 2020. European principles, which proclaimed cohesion of countries and creation of an open European market, were influenced by Eurosceptic sentiments after the outbreak of the pandemic.