The V4 Towards Migration Challenges in Europe
The V4 Towards Migration Challenges in Europe
Contributor(s): Robert Łoś (Editor), Anna Kobierecka (Editor)
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Social Sciences, Public Administration, Public Law, Sociology, International relations/trade, Developing nations, Migration Studies, Geopolitics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: V4; migration; Europe; European Union
Summary/Abstract: The culmination of the large-scale influx of migrants in the European area in 2015 and 2016 has not only led to severe pressure on the affected countries – transit countries as well as countries of destination – but also to the questioning of fundamental achievements of the European Union such as the freedom of movement. The migrant crisis also shed light on pressing issues still in need of satisfying responses reflecting reality, such as the case of the revision of the 1951 Geneva Convention on the status of refugees and the Dublin Ili Regulation setting forth that an asylum application needs to be filed in the first country of entry. Not only did the crisis reveal already existing ruptures between Western and Eastern Europe, but it also showed that the European Union as such is incapable of taking firm and swift decisions regarding the protection of its own borders and citizens against an unprecedented influx of irregular migrants – many of them without official documents. Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are all sceptical towards the idea of positivist humanitarian approach towards migrations and introducing limits on accepting refugees for each EU state. Such reluctance derives from many different aspects, from political and geopolitical to social and cultural. Does V4 region is in fact threatened by migration crisis? lt is evident, that Hungary being the transit state can face significant threats. However, none of those states have the status of settlement countries or long-standing destinations.
Series: Uniwersytet Łódzki
- Page Count: 238
- Publication Year: 2017
- Language: English
Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Czech Republic
Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Czech Republic
(Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Czech Republic)
- Author(s):Jan Bečka, Bohumil Doboš, Filip Gantner, Jakub Landovský, Lenka Pítrová, Martin Riegl, Scarlett Waitzmanová
- Language:English
- Subject(s):International relations/trade, Migration Studies
- Page Range:29-82
- No. of Pages:54
- Keywords:migration; Czech Republic
- Summary/Abstract:For the last two years, migration became one the most discussed topics in many European countries. With the waves of refugees and migrants in general arriving to Europe from the war-torn countries of the Middle East and from African countries, the European political representatives as well as the general public have been largely caught off guard. By September 2016, for example, there were almost 120,000 first-time asylum seekers in the EU-28.1 According to the UNHCR, there were 362,376 migrants and refugees arriving to Europe just by the Mediterranean route in 2016, not counting others.2 The migration flows that Europe has been witnessing as a part of the current crisis are the big-gest since the wars in the Balkans in the 1990s and perhaps the most significant since the end of Second World War.
Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Hungary
Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Hungary
(Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Hungary)
- Author(s):Sándor Gallai, Dániel Horváth, Hanga Horváth-Sántha
- Language:English
- Subject(s):International relations/trade, Developing nations, Migration Studies, Geopolitics
- Page Range:83-148
- No. of Pages:66
- Keywords:migration; Hungary
- Summary/Abstract:Hungary demonstrates a relatively high level of ethnic and particularly high level of cultural homogeneity. Nevertheless, due to its geographical position, Hungary has played the role both as transit and source as well as destination country for both regular and irregular migration during the past decades. In the context of the recent large-scale irregular migration towards (Western) Europe, however, Hungary has rather been a transit country, experiencing serious pressure at its southern border urging the government to take firm action. As mem-ber of the European Union since 2004 and of the Schengen Treaty since 2007, a part of Hungary’s border forms the external borders of the European Union.
Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Poland
Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Poland
(Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Poland)
- Author(s):Anna Kobierecka, Michał Kobierecki, Robert Łoś, Michał Rulski
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Governance, International relations/trade, Developing nations, Migration Studies
- Page Range:149-189
- No. of Pages:41
- Keywords:migration; Poland
- Summary/Abstract:There was hardly any migration policy in Poland at the time of its political transition. The EU accession process seemed to be a natural incentive to develop a legal and institutional framework which, in the case of Poland, was more inspired by the public administration than it was a grass-roots process deriving from actual needs connected with intensive migration patterns. In 1991 Poland began to sign and respect most significant instruments of international law dedicated to the protection of refugees. In 1991, Poland became a member of the Council of Europe, in 1992 joined the International Organization for Migration and in 1993 ratified the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.1 Poland is generally perceived as an emigration country, which is a result of the increasing number of Polish emigrants since the country joined the EU.2 Until the recent migration crisis, immigration to Poland constituted only an insignificant percentage, while emigration after 2004 intensified even further.3 However, for the past couple of years, it has been taking increasing numbers of foreigners, especially from Eastern Europe.
Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Slovak Republic
Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Slovak Republic
(Migration as a Political and Public Phenomenon: The Case of Slovak Republic)
- Author(s):Martina Bolečeková, Barbora Olejárová
- Language:English
- Subject(s):International relations/trade, Migration Studies, Geopolitics
- Page Range:191-226
- No. of Pages:36
- Keywords:migration;Slovakia;
- Summary/Abstract:Its EU membership beginning on 1 May 2004 and its joining of the Schengen Area on 21 December 2007 are the most significant moments in the modern history of the Slovak Republic. With these achievements, a milestone was reached towards an unprecedented experience for Slovak citizens: the free movement of persons within the European Union’s territory. Yet, the accession of the Slovak Republic to the European Union also implied new responsibilities, including more efficient control of the Slovak segment of the EU’s eastern border.1 The protection of the external Schengen border has become a central focus for Slovakia in the context of migration, along with the fight against illegal migration and cross-border crime.
Conclusions
Conclusions
(Conclusions)
- Author(s):Sándor Gallai
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics, Governance, Migration Studies
- Page Range:227-234
- No. of Pages:8
- Summary/Abstract:The Visegrad countries share some marked similarities which differentiate them from most West European states. In the Communist era these countries were closed to large-scale immigration and the possibility of emigrating to the West was also limited and mostly illegal. The freedom of movement was neither codified, nor respected. Therefore, compared to most West European societies, the countries in this region had a rather limited experience with immigration and each of them demonstrated a relatively high level of both ethnic and cultural homogeneity.
