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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Tri-Marium as the ‘emancipation’ of East-Central Europe: framing European counter-narratives in Poland

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The historical notion of Inter-Marium captured Poland’s centuriesold concept of integrating, in a form of confederation, the new states that appeared on the map between the Baltic and Black Seas after 1918. Reincarnated as the contemporary narrative of Tri-Marium, this notion is gaining new momentum and has been most visible in Poland, the largest state of the European Union’s Eastern semi-periphery. This article examines Inter-Marium as one of the most clearly articulated counter-narratives to the mainstream European integration project. Drawing on original research rooted primarily in critical discourse analysis, the article uses framing as an interpretative tool. It analyses the narrative entrepreneurs who are constructing the political message, as well as the resulting narrative itself and how it is employed in contemporary discourse. Unpacking this emancipatory framing, the paper makes three inter-connected arguments. First, it shows that the Inter-Marium concept narratively challenges Western domination (framed as post-colonial constellation) and re-constructs the connected emancipation narratives. Second, the article highlights that the Inter-Marium concept acts as acounter-narrative to the mainstream European integration. Third, it explores the ways in which the Inter-Marium narrative serves the ambitions of the Polish ruling party which aims to regain Poland’s historical status as aregional power