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The paper looks at one of the most dynamically evolving migration processes in contemporary Europe – labour migrants in Poland. Poland, until very recently a typical emigration country started receiving large numbers of migrants only after 2014. This process, however, cannot be explained in supply terms only. In fact, it was also a strong structural demand for foreign workers that played at least an equally important role. This newly established migration system has been tested during the pandemic along with policy adjustments and economic changes. We claim that despite the very fact that the 'essential workers' rhetoric was almost absent in the Polish public discourse, foreign workers played a significant role in securing the continuous operation of many sectors of the economy. The paper shows that the role of migration in Poland has changed along with the transition from a net-sending to a net-receiving country, but still it worked as a safety valve during the pandemic. We argue it was possible because of liberal rules regarding international movement and work abroad. By focusing on the role of exogenous shocks and by considering the very specific migration system in Poland, this paper contributes to the growing literature on the labour market-immigration nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the scale and directions of inter-voivodship migration in Poland in selected years of the 2000-2020 period. The study focused on permanent residence migration and aimed to identify areas of migration attractiveness and migration catchment voivodships. To study the stochastic nature of these migrations, a Markov chain model was used, in which the states were voivodships. An important aspect of the study involved determining the properties of the transition probability matrix as well as stationary probability in order to characterise the mechanism of inter-voivodship migrations in the years 2000, 2010 and 2020. Data obtained from Statistics Poland were used in the analysis. The transition probability matrix showed that the states were connected and irreducible to each other, while the stationary probability of migration to Dolnos' aliskie, Małopolskie, Pomorskie, and Wielkopolskie voivodships increased in 2020 compared to 2000. The analysis of the mechanism of migration in the years 2000, 2010, 2020 indicated that Mazowieckie Voivodship was still the main destination for migrants, with the highest stationary probability reaching 0.18 in 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The existing literature points to securitisation as a dominant form of emergency governance emerging in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, also in relation to migration. However, another important way of framing migration during the pandemic is in terms of economisation. This article aims to analyse the rationale underpinning Polish immigration policy during COVID-19 with a focus on different forms of economisation: macro-economisation, which prioritises economic growth over other socially important issues; and substantive economisation, which centres the needs of a population during a given historical moment. Based on desk and qualitative research, including analysis of official documents and media coverage as well as in-depth expert interviews, we argue that the logics of both kinds of economisation can be discerned in Poland's immigration policy. Our overall conclusion is that during the COVID-19 pandemic, and despite strong anti-immigrant rhetoric in official political discourse, Poland's immigration policy prioritised the interests of the national economy and labour market over strategies of security and social control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK’s exit from the European Union has had seriously negative consequences for the British economy and society. These consequences can be taken as a serious warning to other EU countries that may wish to follow Britain’s chosen path. The warning is particularly important as regards Poland, where the far right has long been openly calling for a so-called “Polexit”. The aim of this article is to analyse and assess both the current and expected effects of Brexit, as well as the conclusions that Poland can draw from them. After presenting the background of Brexit, this analysis focuses primarily on the effects that Great Britain has experienced in the areas of trade with the EU, along with Brexit’s effects on investment, inflation, immigration, and deregulation. Public opinion survey results are also shown, indicating a negative assessment of Brexit by the majority of British society, which is increasingly demanding the restoration of the country’s ties with the EU. Next, the threats to Poland’s further participation in the EU that have arisen since 2015 are shown. Based on Britain’s experience, it can be predicted that a possible Polexit may hit the Polish economy particularly hard, primarily due to the loss of free access to the EU’s single market and a possible collapse with regard to Polish exports, as well as the predicted massive outflow of capital abroad and decline in the inflow of foreign investments. A Polexit would also mean a loss of EU funding. All this would drastically limit Poland’s development possibilities and would trigger a civilisational degradation of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 1990s, large numbers of Polish Roma have emigrated, mainly to Germany and Great Britain. Unlike the migration of Polish (non-Roma) citizens there was an intriguing silence regarding the migration of this ethnic group. The absence of Roma in the grand narrative of migrations from Poland, as we argue, suggests that the notion of belonging and citizenship were unequally distributed among Poland's population. Based on our ongoing ethnographic research among Polish Roma migrants, complemented by an analysis of relevant documents, we argue that these inequalities and hierarchies are deeply rooted and there is an interesting continuity in how they were produced and reproduced prior to and after the 1989 regime change. We argue that one of the key factors in these movements, the collectiveness of the migration project – i.e. migrating as an extended family group as a component of the moral economy of Roma mobility – is mutually produced by unequal citizenship, mobility regimes and strong moral obligations stemming from kinship ties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant part of the revenue supplying municipal budgets in Poland comes from taxes that are subject to municipalities' constitutionally enshrined powers. This income is mainly generated by contributions connected with the right of property ownership, among others. Apart from a fiscal function, taxes may also stimulate specific processes. Positive stimulation within the scope of tax policy is mainly based on various types of tax preferences. They may be applied as a tool of tax policy which fulfils specific economic and social objectives. These issues have become particularly important during emergencies taking place in the state, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the migration crisis or the war in Ukraine. In the wake of the recent occurrence of such types of quasi-extraordinary measures, it is reasonable to ask a question about the need to adjust the legal limits of municipal tax powers in this regard. Concurrently, the necessity to maintain balance between support provided to specific categories of entities and the financial needs of municipalities may not escape notice. The Polish experience shows that as a consequence of emergencies, ad hoc solutions of a merely occasional nature have been introduced to the tax law system. Hence a thesis may be formulated according to which it is reasonable to approach this kind of phenomenon in a systemic way, which should be reflected in the introduction of standard and stable tools that could enable municipalities to undertake specific action. The purpose of this study is to verify this assumption, relying, most of all, on the experiences and needs that have emerged in Poland in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of migration, which affects the international conjuncture and has been mentioned frequently in the literature over the recent years. Migration has become a major security problem not only for the receiving country but also for the sending countries. While the states acted with the classical sense of security with the 1648 Westphalia system, there were especially critical approaches that wanted to change this perception. Aberystwyth School, one of the critical theories, also argues that this perception should be changed. According to this school, instead of a rigid border and military security, the changing and deepening security problems should also be ad- dressed. The immigration problem, which became more prominent in the international conjuncture, especially after the Syrian civil war, proves critical security theories. In this article, we tried to explain security problems posed by the immigrant problem in Europe on the Polish example following the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Thus, by referring to the Aberystwyth School principles on Ukrainian immigrants, a diversified security perspective was provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]