At the beginning of the 21st century the European Union faces the greatest challenge in its history. Several problems were raised due to the joining of new member countries to the EU, one of which – the free movement of people – was the most important. The 15 EU member-states, with fears of the cheap labour of the ten joining countries, in 2003 introduced days of grace for seven years to restrict the free movement of labour. However the majority of basic rights came into being before the joining to EU, the free movement of people and rather the free movement of employees became a question of serious debates. Facts did not prove these fears even in the case of France where the fi gure of a Polish mechanic became a topic of voting campaign in 2005. The expected wave of migrant workers never arrived consequently; countries having opened their labour marked after 1 May 2004 were out of danger. At the same time the areas that lost their inhabitants started to decline in terms of both economy and society. This is one of the main reasons for revitalization, which could support the improvement of socio-economic factors of rural areas, decreasing the unfavourable effects of migration. The newer reconsideration of the transition period is coming at an early date; we made a quantitative research with face to face method in Hungary in August 2008. In the questionnaire we analyzed the migration potential of the Hungarian people with 1200 members national representative sampling.
Publikacja recenzowana / Peer-reviewed publication ; The main purpose of this article is to bring the reader into an atmosphere of intensity created by the political disputes about the need of immigration reform in the United States. It is unquestionable that problems of the immigrants, who for decades were crossing illegally American borders, contribute to internal political turbulences in this country. This article proceeds on the assumption, that the immigration related problems created a social "melting pot" which became one of the most serious challenges for the American policymakers. The confrontation of the President with Congress was inevitable. On the one hand, Obama's administration started to regulate the status of illegal immigrants by executive orders; on the other hand, the Congress was determined to bloc these actions as illegal attempts of the President violating the prerogatives of the legislative body. The confl ict resulted in the stalemates which seriously undermined the effectiveness of the American system of checks and balances. The lack of legal certainty, a necessary component of the reliability of the democratic governments, triggered the dispute over the values of the interpretational fl exibility of the Constitution of the United States.
Publikacja recenzowana / Peer-reviewed publication ; Liczba nielegalnych imigrantów napływających do Unii Europejskiej od kilku lat gwałtownie wzrasta. Stanowiska państw członkowskich UE, podobnie jak ich polityka dotycząca akceptowania (lub nie) napływu nielegalnych imigrantów znacznie się różnią. Podstawowe wartości Unii Europejskiej: pokój, demokracja, prawa człowieka, tolerancja i solidarność, wydają się zagrożone. Niektóre państwa UE podają w wątpliwość pozytywne czynniki związane z napływem imigrantów z powodu tego, iż nie przestrzegają oni podstawowych praw obywateli Unii Europejskiej. Są to nie tylko kwestie związane z bezpieczeństwem. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest ukazanie wyzwań stojących przed instytucjami unijnymi, które muszą podjąć odpowiednie kroki w celu przezwyciężenia kryzysu migracyjnego, i związanych z tym możliwych przyszłych scenariuszy rozwoju projektu europejskiego. ; The illegal immigration fl ows towards European Union are rapidly growing up over the past few years. The Member States' opinions and policies diff er a lot in the matter of acceptance or not the refuges and illegal immigrants. The basic European values: peace, democracy, human rights, tolerance and solidarity seem to be imperilled. Some Member States are questioning positive assets of the immigrants infl ow because of the fact that the newcomers abuse the fundamental rights of the EU citizens. There are not only the security threats. The paper will address the challenges between European institutions' actions to solve the immigration crisis and the possible future scenarios of the integration process.
The law on the Polish Charter is an element of a certain process, noticeable in Central and Eastern Europe, the purpose of which is to reinforce and retain contacts of respective states with immigrants, that is the members of the nation that predominates in each state who live abroad. The regulations which the Polish side has introduced in order to simplify border crossing for individuals of Polish origin by introducing special visas and the Polish Charter have stirred a profound political and social discussion in Belarus. Belarussian society does not have its own national identity, and is not sufficiently developed. The western part of Belarus is a multicultural region. This allows the dwellers of this region to declare themselves to be of practically any nationality as need arises. It may be concluded then that the Polish Charters, issued by Polish diplo- matic posts, do not reflect the number of the actual members of the Polish minority. The applications for a Polish Charter are frequently triggered by economic aspects and the assessment that it pays to be a Pole.
Abstract: Counteracting the development of illegal immigration to the European Union countries serves European and national legal acts. The most important EU acts include the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the program "Open and Safe Europe: the realization of the assumptions" and the Directive on combating illegal migration. The Polish legal acts include the Act on aliens, granting protection to foreigners within the territory of the Republic of Poland, the entry, stay and departure from Poland, the promotion of employment and the labor market, the consequences of entrusting work to aliens illegally staying in Poland, Border Guard Act. Illegal migrants could enter Poland through six border crossing points on the Polish-Russian border. Between 2004 and 2016, the number of detainees on the Union's external border increased and fell on the Polish-Russian border. The number of detainees at the external border of the European Union for crossing state borders contrary to regulations or attempted crossing remained at a stable level. It increased in 2008 after the entry into force of the Schengen Treaty and then in 2014, in connection with the migration from Ukraine at the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Analysis of the nationality of detainees on the Polish-Russian border showed that the detainees were mainly Russian and Chechen nationals. The number of people who were expelled from Poland by the Union's external borders in the years 2004–2014 has fallen. From the Ukrainian-Russian crisis until the end of the period underreview, it grew due to the migration crisis. The number of persons transferred across the Polish-Russian border was small and in 2004, it amounted to 60 (it meant 1.1% of the total). At the Polish-Russian border in 2004–2016, few people were admitted to Poland, which means that the admission procedure had being carried out on the rest of the European Union's external border. ; Przeciwdziałaniu nielegalnej emigracji do państw Unii Europejskiej służą akty prawa unijnego i krajowego. Do najważniejszych unijnych aktów prawa należy zaliczyć: traktat o funkcjonowaniu Unii Europejskiej, program "Otwarta i bezpieczna Europa: realizacja założeń" oraz dyrektywy w sprawie przeciwdziałania nielegalnej migracji. Do polskich aktów prawnych należą ustawy: o cudzoziemcach, o udzielaniu cudzoziemcom ochrony na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej, o wjeździe, pobycie i wyjeździe z terytorium Polski, o promocji zatrudnienia i rynku pracy, o skutkach powierzania pracy cudzoziemcom nielegalnie przebywającym na terytorium Polski, ustawa o straży granicznej. Nielegalni migranci mogli wjechać do Polski przez sześć granicznych przejść osobowych na odcinku granicy polsko-rosyjskiej. W latach 2004–2016 liczba zatrzymanych na zewnętrznej granicy UE wzrosła, a spadła na odcinku granicy polsko-rosyjskiej. Liczba zatrzymanych na zewnętrznej granicy UE za przekroczenie granicy państwowej wbrew przepisom lub usiłowanie przekroczenia utrzymywała się na stałym poziomie. Wzrosła w 2008 r. po wejściu w życie traktatu z S chengen, a następnie w 2014 r. w związku z migracjami z Ukrainy na początku konfliktu rosyjsko-ukraińskiego. Analiza narodowości osób zatrzymanych na granicy polsko-rosyjskiej wykazała, iż zatrzymani to głównie obywatele rosyjskiej i czeczeńskiej narodowości. Liczba osób wydalonych z Polski przez zewnętrzną granicę UE w latach 2004–2014 spadła. Od kryzysu ukraińsko-rosyjskiego do końca badanego okresu wzrosła w związku z kryzysem migracyjnym. Liczba osób przekazanych przez granicę polsko-rosyjską była niewielka i w 2004 r. wyniosła 60, tj. 1,07% ogółu. Na granicy polsko-rosyjskiej w latach 2004–2016 w Polsce przyjęto nieliczne osoby, oznacza to iż, procedura przyjęć była realizowana na pozostałych częściach granicy zewnętrznej Unii Europejskiej.
Zaangażowanie parlamentów państw członkowskich w dyskusję nad problemem nielegalnej migracji do UE przybrało na sile w latach 2015 i 2016. Artykuł omawia uprawnienia przysługujące parlamentom na mocy traktatu lizbońskiego, pozwalające im wpływać na procesy polityczne w UE, w szczególności w ramach polityki migracyjnej, azylowej i kontroli granic. Następnie przedstawiono aktywność parlamentów w latach 2015-2017 wobec propozycji legislacyjnych KE dotyczących mechanizmu relokacji i przesiedleń oraz reformy wspólnego europejskiego systemu azylowego. Uzyskane wnioski pozwalają stwierdzić, że najczęściej używanymi przez parlamenty instrumentami była współpraca międzyparlamentarna, kontrola przestrzegania zasady pomocniczości oraz dialog polityczny. Ze względu na brak niezbędnych aktów wykonawczych pozwalających prowadzić kontrolę działań Europolu, parlamenty w latach 2015-2017 nie wykorzystywały w ogóle spotkań grupy ds. wspólnej kontroli parlamentarnej w ramach przestrzeni wolności, bezpieczeństwa i sprawiedliwości. Jednocześnie można było zauważyć, że parlamenty narodowe państw negatywnie ustosunkowanych do przyjmowania imigrantów, czyli przede wszystkim państw z Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej, były bardziej aktywne na forum UE niż parlamenty państw pozytywnie nastawionych do migrantów. ; Involvement of Member States' parliaments in the debate on the problem of illegal migration to the EU has intensified in 2015 and 2016. The article discusses the powers of parliaments under the Treaty of Lisbon, allowing them to influence political processes in the migration, asylum and borders control policies in the EU. Article presents also the activities of parliaments in the years 2015-2017 regarding the legislative proposals on mechanism of relocation and resettlement and the reform of the Common European Asylum System. The results show that the instruments most frequently used by parliaments were: interparliamentary cooperation, control of compliance with the principle of subsidiarity and political dialogue. Due to the lack of necessary executive acts to control Europol's activities, in 2015-2017 parliaments did not use the meetings of the Europol Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group in the area of freedom, security and justice. At the same time, it could be noted that the national parliaments of the Member States that opposed the admission of immigrants (mainly from Central and Eastern Europe) were more active in the EU than the parliaments of states with positive attitude towards relocation and resettlements program.
Zaangażowanie parlamentów państw członkowskich w dyskusję nad problemem nielegalnej migracji do UE przybrało na sile w latach 2015 i 2016. Artykuł omawia uprawnienia przysługujące parlamentom na mocy traktatu lizbońskiego, pozwalające im wpływać na procesy polityczne w UE, w szczególności w ramach polityki migracyjnej, azylowej i kontroli granic. Następnie przedstawiono aktywność parlamentów w latach 2015–2017 wobec propozycji legislacyjnych KE dotyczących mechanizmu relokacji i przesiedleń oraz reformy wspólnego europejskiego systemu azylowego. Uzyskane wnioski pozwalają stwierdzić, że najczęściej używanymi przez parlamenty instrumentami była współpraca międzyparlamentarna, kontrola przestrzegania zasady pomocniczości oraz dialog polityczny. Ze względu na brak niezbędnych aktów wykonawczych pozwalających prowadzić kontrolę działań Europolu, parlamenty w latach 2015–2017 nie wykorzystywały w ogóle spotkań grupy ds. wspólnej kontroli parlamentarnej w ramach przestrzeni wolności, bezpieczeństwa i sprawiedliwości. Jednocześnie można było zauważyć, że parlamenty narodowe państw negatywnie ustosunkowanych do przyjmowania imigrantów, czyli przede wszystkim państw z Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej, były bardziej aktywne na forum UE niż parlamenty państw pozytywnie nastawionych do migrantów. ; Involvement of Member States' parliaments in the debate on the problem of illegal migration to the EU has intensified in 2015 and 2016. The article discusses the powers of parliaments under the Treaty of Lisbon, allowing them to influence political processes in the migration, asylum and borders control policies in the EU. Article presents also the activities of parliaments in the years 2015–2017 regarding the legislative proposals on mechanism of relocation and resettlement and the reform of the Common European Asylum System. The results show that the instruments most frequently used by parliaments were: interparliamentary cooperation, control of compliance with the principle of subsidiarity and political dialogue. Due to the lack of necessary executive acts to control Europol's activities, in 2015–2017 parliaments did not use the meetings of the Europol Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group in the area of freedom, security and justice. At the same time, it could be noted that the national parliaments of the Member States that opposed the admission of immigrants (mainly from Central and Eastern Europe) were more active in the EU than the parliaments of states with positive attitude towards relocation and resettlements program.
Przedmiotem rozważań podjętych w artykule są: powody, dla których wielokulturowość budowana poprzez przyjmowanie imigrantów jest niezbędna Polsce i Polakom, diagnoza wielokulturowości w wymiarze deskryptywnym – jako rzeczywistości społeczno-demograficznej oraz świadomościowym – jako formy percepcji społecznej odmienności kulturowej, wreszcie stan zaawansowania prac na budowaniem ideologii/polityki multikulturalizmu w naszym kraju. Wyżej wskazane kwestie zostaną omówione poprzez odwołanie się do danych demograficznych, analiz antropologicznych, socjologicznych i politologicznych, a także różnego typu dokumentów urzędowych, w tym aktów prawnych. ; Poland is per saldo an emigration country (over 3 million people left the country between 1980 and 2014). Demographic analyses predict significant ageing of the population and a population decline in the next decades. Immigrants constitute less than 2% of the Polish populace and for many of them Poland is a place of seasonal residence or transit point in their journey to Western Europe. Therefore, Poland and the Poles need cultural diversity that results from immigration. Poland needs its own policy/ideology of multiculturalism that would include the long-term goals of the state and all its present and future residents. This policy should integrate legislation with development of social awareness (the level of positive tolerance) through education and increased use of expert knowledge. It should also use positive and negative experience of multicultural states of the 'old' European Union. Polish migration policy needs a serious social debate that goes beyond the development of tools to respond to the phenomenon of migration. Currently, immigrants in Poland encounter manyadaptation and integration problems. They live separately from the host society and remain 'invisible'. Poland has just begun a long journey to build a modern open society and Polish inhabitants, using the Charles Taylor's words, face the challenge of negotiations over the so-called space of recognition.
Guaranteeing the availability of European labour markets constituted a very important element of the Polish foreign policy during the negotiation of conditions under which Poland would become a member of the European Union. At the time of the Polish accession, Poles as citizens of United Europe gained the right to take up legal work in other Member States. This opportunity was taken by Polish young people – "thirdgeneration emigrants" tempted by better earnings and prospects for the future. The proposed text is an attempt to capture migrants' reality in the context of adaptative difficulties experienced by migrants with regard to globalisation-related transformations and the construct of a global teenager. The research results were obtained from two research projects carried out: (1) a research project carried out under the promotional grant in the years 2008-2012 (National Center for Science in Krakow – NN 106 348 140 (grant manager: Prof. Magdalena Piorunek, PhD) under the title: 'Polish emigration and reemigration as an experience. Sociological and pedagogical aspect', the results of which have been published in: Kozielska J., (2014) Post-accession migration. The theoretical and empirical context. Social support. The research sample in the quantitative analysis consisted of 174 persons who emigrated for at least one year and stayed in Poland for at least 6 months from the time of their return to the time of the research. The sample was targeted, and the target group consisted of return emigrants who emigrated during the pre-accession period and decided to stay in a European state rather than a "traditional" country of migration like the United States of America. The quantitative research was supplemented with a qualitative analysis of texts derived from hermeneutic methods, which included online forums (created by and for emigrants, both those who are still abroad and those who are planning to return or have already returned to Poland) and blogs containing fragments of emigrants' biographies; (2) a research project carried out in London and Scotland under the POSTDOC scholarship of the Adam Mickiewicz University "Unique Graduate = Opportunities. An increase in the didactic potential of the Adam Mickiewicz University through proinnovative education in English, interdisciplinariness, e-learning, investment in human resources" under the title: 'Transnational biographical counselling. A paradigm of qualitative research. An in-depth interview – 15 families with children (aged between 3 and 13 years) (2015-2017)'.
Artykuł traktuje o obchodach uroczystości świąt narodowych 3 Maja, 15 sierpnia i 11 listopada w warunkach polskiej Drugiej Wielkiej Emigracji. Chronologicznie uwzględniłem lata 1939–1956, od powołania do życia rządu RP we Francji, po wydarzenia w Polsce, które rozbudziły nadzieje Polaków na obczyźnie na demokratyzację kraju. W rozważaniach zwróciłem uwagę przede wszystkim na działalność rządu RP, z jednoczesnym odwołaniem się do niektórych inicjatyw prezydenta oraz partii, stronnictw politycznych i Polskich Sił Zbrojnych na Zachodzie. The article deals with the celebration of national days of 3 May, 15 August, and 11 November in the conditions of the second Polish "Great Emigration". The chronological scope of the study covers the years from 1939 to 1956, i.e. from the establishment of the Polish government in France to the events in Poland that awakened hopes of Poles abroad of democratisation of the country. I focus primarily on actions of the Polish government with occasional references to some of the initiatives of the president as well as various associations, political parties and the Polish Armed Forces in the West. ; Artykuł traktuje o obchodach uroczystości świąt narodowych 3 Maja, 15 sierpnia i 11 listopada w warunkach polskiej Drugiej Wielkiej Emigracji. Chronologicznie uwzględniłem lata 1939–1956, od powołania do życia rządu RP we Francji, po wydarzenia w Polsce, które rozbudziły nadzieje Polaków na obczyźnie na demokratyzację kraju. W rozważaniach zwróciłem uwagę przede wszystkim na działalność rządu RP, z jednoczesnym odwołaniem się do niektórych inicjatyw prezydenta oraz partii, stronnictw politycznych i Polskich Sił Zbrojnych na Zachodzie. The article deals with the celebration of national days of 3 May, 15 August, and 11 November in the conditions of the second Polish "Great Emigration". The chronological scope of the study covers the years from 1939 to 1956, i.e. from the establishment of the Polish government in France to the events in Poland that awakened hopes of Poles abroad of democratisation of the country. I focus primarily on actions of the Polish government with occasional references to some of the initiatives of the president as well as various associations, political parties and the Polish Armed Forces in the West.
Artykuł traktuje o obchodach uroczystości świąt narodowych 3 Maja, 15 sierpnia i 11 listopada w warunkach polskiej Drugiej Wielkiej Emigracji. Chronologicznie uwzględniłem lata 1939–1956, od powołania do życia rządu RP we Francji, po wydarzenia w Polsce, które rozbudziły nadzieje Polaków na obczyźnie na demokratyzację kraju. W rozważaniach zwróciłem uwagę przede wszystkim na działalność rządu RP, z jednoczesnym odwołaniem się do niektórych inicjatyw prezydenta oraz partii, stronnictw politycznych i Polskich Sił Zbrojnych na Zachodzie. The article deals with the celebration of national days of 3 May, 15 August, and 11 November in the conditions of the second Polish "Great Emigration". The chronological scope of the study covers the years from 1939 to 1956, i.e. from the establishment of the Polish government in France to the events in Poland that awakened hopes of Poles abroad of democratisation of the country. I focus primarily on actions of the Polish government with occasional references to some of the initiatives of the president as well as various associations, political parties and the Polish Armed Forces in the West. ; Artykuł traktuje o obchodach uroczystości świąt narodowych 3 Maja, 15 sierpnia i 11 listopada w warunkach polskiej Drugiej Wielkiej Emigracji. Chronologicznie uwzględniłem lata 1939–1956, od powołania do życia rządu RP we Francji, po wydarzenia w Polsce, które rozbudziły nadzieje Polaków na obczyźnie na demokratyzację kraju. W rozważaniach zwróciłem uwagę przede wszystkim na działalność rządu RP, z jednoczesnym odwołaniem się do niektórych inicjatyw prezydenta oraz partii, stronnictw politycznych i Polskich Sił Zbrojnych na Zachodzie. The article deals with the celebration of national days of 3 May, 15 August, and 11 November in the conditions of the second Polish "Great Emigration". The chronological scope of the study covers the years from 1939 to 1956, i.e. from the establishment of the Polish government in France to the events in Poland that awakened hopes of Poles abroad of democratisation of the country. I focus primarily on actions of the Polish government with occasional references to some of the initiatives of the president as well as various associations, political parties and the Polish Armed Forces in the West.
Monografia zawiera liczne ryciny. ; The end of the 80-ties and the beginning of 90-ties years is the period when new trends occur in the wandering movements of the population in Poland, including considerably higher inflow of foreigners than up to now. For the first time in the post war history of our country we have to do with a considerable selected temporary as well as permanent immigration. Thus Poland has emerged as an attractive country to live and to manage business activity and is able to draw more and more immigrants. While examining the phenomenon of permanent immigration to Poland since 1946 (Fig. l), few phases can be shown. The first is 1946-1960, the second one lasts until 1990 and the third immigration phase is beyond 1990. The subject of our analysis is the third immigration phase after 1990, because from that time markedly increased the inflow of foreigners to Poland. Jointly during the period 1990-1995 over 35.1 thousand persons have settled in Poland (Fig. 1). Analysing the inflow of population from abroad we can say about the permanent escalation of this process. It is indicated by the comparison of the immigration magnitude in following years and by the fact that from 1989 to 1995 the yearly inflow has grown al most four times, from 2.2 thousand to 8.1 thousand persons, respectively. A characteristic feature of the immigration from abroad is the great disproportion in the scale of inflow to towns an villages. Majority of the foreigners proceed to larger centres, therefore in the country this is only a marginal phenomenon. Since 1989 over 30 thousand foreigners have settled in towns, thus this makes 83% of the inflow in this period, while in the country less then 7 thousand. In the structure of the inflow to Poland (1991-1995) al most half of the persons have secondary education (45%), 33% university education and 7%. So almost 85% of the immigrants are persons with secondary or university education (Fig. 2). Of this about 80% of the persons are at productive age, the rest makes of children up to 18 years of age and persons over 60. (Fig. 3). The proportions between the number of men and women are al most equal (55% and 45%, respectively), but according to the origin country some differentiation can be observed (Fig. 4). In the structure of inflow according to countries 65% of the immigrants come from European countries and the former Soviet Union. 3.5% from Northern America and 8.6% jointly from Asia and Africa. The highest number of immigrants come from Germany (24.1 %), from the USA (16.2%) and from the form er Soviet Union (15%). Examining the problem summarily for the last 6 years, from 1990 to 1995, we can notice that the greatest inflow of foreigners was noted in the voivodeships: Warszawa (4.9 thousand), Gdańsk (2.9 thousand), Katowice (2.5 thousand) and Wrocław (2.1 thousand). In the next five voivodeships (Szczecin, Poznań, Opole, Kraków and Łódź) the inflow was for l to 2 thousand persons. Generally these voivodeships are characterised by a high degree of social-economical development and low degree of unemployment. In the shadow of the immigration streams there are such voivodeships as Bielsko-Biała, Chełm, Piotrków Tryb., Sieradz, Leszno and Ciechanów voivodeships. The joint inflow over the period 1990-1995 was 35.1 thousand persons (Fig. 7). Reassuming, we can state, that starting from the 90-ties years the immigration to Poland is continuously growing.
1940 year was very significant in the life of Römer, because he abandoned Kaunas for Vilnius. In the same time the great lawyer ended his activity as arector of Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas what, together with the effect of migration, limited in many areas the possibility of effective collaboration with Lithuanian government. In ancient Gediminas capital Römer not only worked at the University, but also made many efforts for coexistence Poles and Lithuanians. But after six months, after the unification of Baltic Republics with USSR, the situation seriously changed. Römer as the "socially alienated" and "politically unsafe" was not avaluable person in the eyes of Soviet clerks, so he went to the "internal emigration", but constantly taught at the University as the lecturer of objective science.
1940 year was very significant in the life of Römer, because he abandoned Kaunas for Vilnius. In the same time the great lawyer ended his activity as arector of Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas what, together with the effect of migration, limited in many areas the possibility of effective collaboration with Lithuanian government. In ancient Gediminas capital Römer not only worked at the University, but also made many efforts for coexistence Poles and Lithuanians. But after six months, after the unification of Baltic Republics with USSR, the situation seriously changed. Römer as the "socially alienated" and "politically unsafe" was not avaluable person in the eyes of Soviet clerks, so he went to the "internal emigration", but constantly taught at the University as the lecturer of objective science.
The work is a compendium of information and a study of Polish-Latin American relations, with particular emphasis on the implications of Poland's accession to the structures of the European Union in the context of the country's policy towards Latin America. The monograph is the first in the literature on the subject in which the title issue has been presented within the framework of the entire post-cold war period, i.e. 1989/1990–2016, and in a comprehensive way, on the political, economic, scientific and cultural levels. The author has focused on the analysis of bilateral relations with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. The determinant of such a choice was the desire to discuss Poland's relations with its main Latin American partners. In accordance with the government document Strategia RP w odniesieniu do pozaeuropejskich krajów rozwijających się [Strategy of the Republic of Poland with regard to non-European developing countries] of 2004, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico were included among the priority partners, while Colombia and Venezuela were defined as important. These are the Latin American countries with which Poland conducts political dialogue both bilaterally and multilaterally (within the EU or the Pacific Alliance, which includes three of the countries listed in the Strategy – Mexico, Chile and Colombia), and Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Chile account for the largest percentage of Poland's trade with the region (about 75%). As far as the historical experience of mutual contacts is concerned, it should be noted that these countries, especially Brazil and Argentina, were the main directions of emigration from Poland to Latin America. The work also mentions Poland's relations with other countries of the region, such as Cuba, Peru, Panama and Ecuador. The study is devoted to the post-war period, but it takes into account the context of Poland's earlier policy towards Latin America, divided into the most characteristic stages, corresponding to continuity and change in the bilateral relations. It discusses Poland's contacts with the countries of this region in the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as in the 19th century, when there was an increased emigration of Poles, especially to Brazil (the so-called Brazilian fever) and Argentina. The title issue has been presented in the bilateral and multilateral dimension, taking into account the formal and legal basis and the results of meetings at the highest and lowest levels. Factors hindering and facilitating relations between Poland and Latin American countries and the position of these countries in the foreign policy of Poland have been identified. Determinants and tendencies in Polish policy towards the Latin American region, its manifestations, as well as dilemmas and challenges that appeared in the 21st century have been presented. Moreover, arguments for intensification of mutual relations in bilateral and multilateral forums and potential areas of cooperation in the field of political, economic, scientific and cultural relations have been indicated.
