How energy dependence becomes domestically acceptable in European countries: Legitimation of Russian energy use during the Russia–Ukraine war

Abstract

The Russia–Ukraine war placed European countries before fundamental political and moral choices, compelling them to reconsider how to suspend, reduce, or manage their dependence on Russian oil and gas. These decisions were not simply technical responses to energy security concerns, sanctions, or market reconfiguration, but required domestic legitimation and societal acceptance in order to remain politically and practically viable. This study investigates how mainstream national media constructed Russian energy dependence as domestically acceptable—or contestable—during the war, focusing on Poland, Germany, Hungary, and Italy. The findings reveal that Polish discourse constructed disengagement through market rationality and corporate competence, presenting withdrawal from Russian energy as a manageable economic adjustment. German discourse legitimized gradual reduction by foregrounding governance responsibility and industrial vulnerability, framing restraint as a necessary condition for economic and social stability. In Hungary, continued reliance was normalized through narratives of infrastructural necessity and supply security, casting dependence as a matter of system survival. Italian discourse, by contrast, embedded energy decisions within supranational procedures and EU-level coordination, shifting responsibility upward and grounding legitimacy in institutional authority. These findings demonstrate that energy transitions are not only technical or economic processes, but also communicative and affective processes in which mainstream media organize public interpretations of policy choices, material constraints, and governance responsibility. For applied energy research, the study highlights the importance of legitimacy-building narratives and emotional regulation as complementary mechanisms that shape the social sustainability of energy governance under geopolitical disruption.