The 1991 Polish-German Treaty: Origin, Aims, and Implementation. Successes, Failures, and Prospects in the Context of the Migration Crisis in Europe

Dealing with the migrant crisis in Europe has shown that the regulations, principles, and values of the European Union are overshadowed by the individual interests of its member states. On the one hand, EU member states have faced internal political challenges caused by populism, while on the other hand, there has been a lack of rapid, coordinated, and synchronised measures to solve the problems at hand. The mass influx of migrants from Asia and Africa to Europe indicates demographic shifts on a historic scale and possible global consequences, but EU member states have been observing the issue and are still observing it primarily from their own national point of view. A comparative analysis of electoral support for populist parties and movements in Europe since the beginning of the migrant crisis has led to an indicative conclusion that there is a direct correlation between increasing support for populists and the large-scale migrant crisis. The significant influx of migrants has contributed not decisively, but to a significant extent to the creation of a great populist wave that has engulfed almost all of Europe.

Examining the ongoing processes of migration in Europe and beyond, this book deals with the ongoing processes of migration and boundary-(re)making in the world. It takes stock of recent and hitherto unpublished research on the refugee crisis in Europe, migration dynamics in the Middle East and migration flows in Africa and Latin America, specifically in relation to their political, social and cultural framing. In particular, chapters in this collection focus on newer cases of transnational migration, their socio-political implications that in turn affect identity-making. Alongside the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe, which can be viewed as one of the most divisive political issues in recent European history, new patterns of migration and re-bordering can also be seen across Europe, the Middle East and beyond. These include both the rise of anti-immigration populism within the nation-states as well as different attempts to control and regulate tangible and intangible borders of the nation state to discourage migration at the regional level such as the EU.

The aim of this article is to analyze Polish foreign policy, its nature and instruments of implementation under the migration crisis. The migration issue is in this case the determinant of foreign policy, which verified and actuated Polish external policies in the bilateral relations, as well as in the framework of multilateral cooperation. The migration issue has also become a determinant of European policy of Poland prejudging the extent and mechanisms of Polish involvement in the solution of the migration crisis in European institutions. It should be noted that a different approach to EU policies and its activities to prevent and mitigate the effects of the influx of people on its territory is reflected in the relations between Member States, as exemplified by the Polish-German relations. The migration issue is also reflected in the activities of the Visegrad Group. Fear of the consequences of mass migration into the EU and, above all, opposition to the obligation to accept refugees based on the quota system proposed by the European Commission intensified cooperation within the Visegrad Group. From the Polish foreign policy perspective, the Visegrad Group is seen as an important entity influencing its effects.

One of the features of the modern system of international relations in terms of increasing globalization is the intensification of migration processes, the complication of the structure of migration flows. Compared to the migration crisis in Central Europe, the situation in Northern Europe looks more optimistic. Nevertheless, as the data of official statistics show, the number of arriving migrants is increasing every year, which creates an additional burden on the social institutions of society and increases tension in the societies. Another problem is the formation of ethnical enclaves on the territory of the recipient countries. For the research the Nordic region countries were selected: Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Finland. These states are included in the ranking of the “happiest” countries in the world and attract migrants with high standards of living. But the geographic location makes the Nordic countries a little less attractive for the migrants than the Central European countries. The analysis of the measures implemented within the framework of the migration policy shows that the Northern European states have different approaches to solving the migration issue. The strictest model of migration policy is demonstrated by Denmark and Norway, the softest by Sweden and Finland. Iceland, due to its geographical location, is less exposed to migration problems and demonstrates a very loyal policy towards migrants. Scandinavian countries have long been facing a choice: on the one hand, there has been and still is a need for workforce, and on the other hand, the influx of huge numbers of migrants is a threat to the stability of the state. The migration crisis in Europe, which reached its peak in 2015, forced countries with “soft” migration laws to take measures towards tighter control over migration flows.

The high level of fear of Islam in Poland arose in spite of the fact that Poland has very few Muslims, just 0.1% of the population. This phenomenon began to surface in 2004, after Poland’s accession to the EU but grew considerably in 2015, during the so-called migration crisis in Europe. Public opinion polls indicate that it can be described by the term “Islamophobia”, which is often used in the literature of social and political sciences. The aim of the article is to explain the reasons for such a high level of fear of Muslims in Poland and the negative attitude towards Islam, given that it is contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church, with which Polish society mostly identifies. The article consists of three parts. Part one presents the reaction of the EU Member States to the migration crisis in Europe. The second part analyzes the position of the United Right (Pol. Zjednoczona Prawica) political coalition in Poland, towards immigrants and refugees from Muslim countries. Part three confronts the stands of the United Right in Poland and the position of the Catholic Church towards Islam.

The humanitarian crisis and civil war in Syria: Its impact and influence on the migration crisis in Europe

Migration is a historical issue that exists along with the evolution of humanity. Since 2015, Europe has witnessed a strong wave of illegal migrant arrivals from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, creating an economic, political, security, and social crisis in the region. This article is devoted to discussing how the migrant crisis has affected regional security and the reasons why the policy responses of the EU and member states are effective enough to handle this phenomenon. First, the author presents an overview of the migrant crisis in Europe since 2015 by indicating statistical information of the number of migrants coming to Europe each year, and demonstrating the motivations of their choices. Second, four negative impacts of the migrant crisis on the security of Europe are pinpointed. Third, the article seeks to deliver an in-depth analysis of European countries’ policy responses to this problem, which opens up wholly new prospects, raises new questions, and presents new efforts towards the promotion of global and regional integration, cooperation, and unity. On this basis, the author personally comes up with some policy implications for Vietnam in dealing with the migration issue. To achieve these research objectives, the author mainly uses popular research methodologies in social science and international relations in particular to find out answers to the raised questions.

Adapting to migration as a planetary force

The aim of the article is to show the genesis of the Polish-German Treaty on Good Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation of 17 June 1991 and its importance for the development of cooperation between Poland and Germany in the context of the ongoing refugee crisis. The author puts forward a few debatable theses and tries to answer questions about Polish-German relations between 1989 and 2018, their conditions and perspectives. For example, he states that in the last two years, Polish-German relations, particularly political ones, have deteriorated considerably. On the other hand, economic cooperation is developing systematically. The international situation in Europe has also become more complicated. One of the reasons for this is the refugee crisis, also referred to as the migration crisis. It was triggered by a mass influx of refugees and immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. It has strongly divided the European Union and affects Polish-German relations.

The migrant crisis in Europe, which reached its zenith in 2015, made EU politicians realize the urgent need for a more effective migration policy that would rely more on supranational cooperation. Absence of this policy triggers migrant influx to Europe, in particular of unqualified labour force, and enhances illegal migration from which organized criminal groups profit enormously. Moreover, uncontrolled migration processes give rise to a number of social, economic, political and cultural problems all across the EU, and thus nurture the Eurosceptic mood. This leads to societal negation of the European integration project and provides fertile soil to the spread of radicalism and xenophobia. The aim of the study is to capture the position of European Parliament on recent migrant crisis. The Parliament, a democratically legitimate body, which claims the right to represent European societies, advocates adoption of systemic EU approach to migration which should be based on the respect of human rights and creation of legal migration pathways for refugees and workers needed by Europe. The solution of the present migrant crisis is sought by the EP in moving towards a common, comprehensive European immigration policy and enhanced solidarity of EU member states in response to increased influx of refugees from conflict zones.

Розглянуто проблему сучасної міграційної кризи в країнах ЄС, основні загрози безпеки зовнішніх кордонів ЄС та загострення міжетнічних конфліктів. Проаналізовано сучасну міграційну політику країн ЄС, розкрито основні підходи до вирішення міграційних проблем, висвітлено проблеми інтеграції мігрантів у європейські суспільства, заходи, які застосовують окремі європейські держави у боротьбі із нелегальною міграцією, а також наголошено на необхідності вдосконалення сучасної міграційної політики країн ЄС, розробки нових умов та принципів адаптації мігрантів, що застосовуватимуться Україною. Відзначено, що прагнення України стати рівноправним членом світової та європейської спільноти вимагає від нашої держави неухильного дотримання міжнародних угод та стандартів у сфері захисту прав людини, одним з яких є свобода вільного переміщення громадян. Україна, в силу свого геополітичного розташування, стала транзитною країною для багатьох шукачів кращого життя. У цьому потоці певний відсоток становлять люди, що змушені шукати притулок. Ці люди не можуть розраховувати на захист своїх урядів, і в цьому відрізняються від інших мігрантів, у яких би тяжких умовах ці мігранти не знаходилися, а також від інших груп людей, які мають потребу в гуманітарному захисті. Також автор намагається проаналізувати питання нелегальної міграції до країн європейського континенту, що було викликано і спровоковано напливом біженців із територій, де активно ведуться військові дії та масові збройні конфлікти; робиться спроба висловлення пропозицій та шляхів їх розв’язання. Також сформульовано поняття «європейська міграційна криза», що застосовується для визначення ситуації, яка склалася в країнах Європейського Союзу внаслідок процесів нелегальної міграції біженців. Проаналізовано ключові проблеми нелегальної міграції, розглянуто основні заходи, що здійснюються ЄС задля врегулювання напливу мігрантів, визначено рівень їх ефективності. Акцентовано увагу на необхідності вдосконалення міграційної політики як на рівні країн-учасниць ЄС, України, так і Європейським Союзом загалом.

The article analyzes the consequences of the 2014-2016 migration crisis in Spain. Today the migration crisis in Europe is far from being resolved. Every day hundreds of people from Africa, Asia and America move here hoping for a better life. The Mediterranean route used by migrants passes through Spain. The country has faced a record increase in migration flows from African countries and has found itself in a difficult situation. On the one hand, the state protects migrants’ rights; on the other hand, the refugee influx and a sharp increase in the level of illegal migration have become destabilizing and dangerous factors in the country’s politics. Consequently, the European migration crisis affects the country’s political life and causes divisions and confrontations between various political parties and resentment among the native population. The authors make an attempt to show the political consequences of the migration collapse in Spain.

Statelessness remains a secondary topic in the debate on the migration crisis that has been raging across Europe since 2015, but it will certainly come to the fore in the near future. This paper draws attention to the issue of limited social and scholarly interest in statelessness in the context of the present migration crisis. The research explores how Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan nationality laws (as the majority of protection seekers come from these countries) regulate the issue of acquiring citizenship and why this gives rise to the problem of statelessness. The paper concludes that the lack of interest in the issue of statelessness is a growing challenge for the international community and requires systemic action. A ‘stateless generation’ may never become part of any society, which may in turn give rise to social conflicts in the countries of current residence. The author concludes by putting forward some suggestions for solving this problem from global, regional, state and civil society perspectives. Keywords: statelessness, migration crisis, refugee crisis, asylum, international law. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution − Non-Commercial − No Derivatives 4.0 International License. Suggested citation: A Szwed, ‘Statelessness in the Context of the Migration Crisis in Europe: A Growing Challenge for the International Community’ (2020) 16 CYELP 301.

Recent developments in European security situation, starting with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, followed by the complicated Brexit and political instability in the Middle East and North Africa, have given rise to instability in the European Union. Yet, none of the other factors could be compared with the risks caused by the massive influx of refugees into the EU that challenges both solidarity and responsibility of the member states. In this context, it is extremely important to understand the actual security threats related to the refugee crisis and the root causes of growing refugee flows. This article discusses the roots of large-scale migration flows in the European Union (EU) over the present decade and investigates the potential link between migration flows and modern hybrid warfare, referring to the coordination of various modes of warfare, such as military and non-military means, conventional and non-conventional capabilities, state and non-state actors with an aim to cause instability and disarrangement. It is intriguing to investigate whether the increase in migration flows could be linked to present confrontation in the global arena on the Russia-West axis. Common patterns of migration flows from Syria and Ukraine to the EU are discussed, as well as policy recommendations are given to diminish the negative impact of similar events in the future.

This article is devoted to the one of the significant phenomena of recent decades in the area of municipal government has been the emergence on a global scale of cities that have declared themselves human rights defenders or of human rights cities. Scientific understanding and analysis of the process of emergence of human rights cities began in parallel with the emergence of this paradox of urban development in foreign countries. One of the first European cities where human rights became part of municipal politics was Barcelona. It was here that the position of Commissioner for Civil Rights was founded, which later became the Barcelona Department of Civil Rights. The initiative was carried out in order to overcome the effects of «new» waves of migration and the growing racial, ethnic and religious diversity in the city. New perspectives on human rights cities were defined at the latest World Urban Human Rights Forum (WHRCF), an annual event in Gwangju, the Republic of Korea. This year the Forum was held from 7 to 10 October with the theme: «Human rights in times of challenge: a new social contract». In total, 3012 participants from 76 countries and 322 cities from all over the world took part in the event. The Final Declaration of the 11th Forum of WHRCF expresses deep concern about the diverse threats to human rights and democracy due to violence, discrimination, inequality, sustainable development, climate change and environmental disasters and identifies five areas for further work. The article examines the use in the practice of municipal administration of foreign countries for the protection of human rights, defined in international human rights documents at the global and regional levels. The reasons and factors for the involvement of cities in human rights activities are analyzed, specific examples of the work of local governments to ensure both the entire spectrum of internationally recognized human rights and certain areas of combating racism, discrimination, xenophobia and exclusion are given. The examples given in this article testify to the presence of a steady trend of involving modern cities in human rights activities. This world experience needs to be carefully studied and implemented in the practice of municipal government in Ukraine. Modern crisis phenomena, such as the coronavirus pandemic or the migrant crisis in Europe, make this task even more relevant. It is concluded that this world experience requires careful study and implementation in the practice of municipal government in Ukraine. Modern crisis phenomena, such as the coronavirus pandemic or the migrant crisis in Europe, make this task even more relevant.