To BRI or Not to BRI? : A framing analysis on the European Union’s member states’ views on China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract: The European Union’s foreign and security policy has become an important asset for the union and its members to act upon the security challenges within and outside Europe. Even though the union’s foreign and security policy is well established, research shows that it still has difficulties uniting all its member states to its foreign and security policy on different security challenges. An example of this is China’s Belt and Road Initiative. By comparative framing analysis on five selected member states’ governments, Estonia, Italy, Germany, France and Hungary, the thesis map and compare the different views the member states have on the BRI and identify in what ways the member states differ. The analysis concludes that there are differences and similarities in the five member states framing BRI. The thesis’ findings contribute to the broader academic research that tries to understand why the member states has difficulties uniting behind a common foreign and security policy, especially where security challenges are involved.