Polish Migration Policy From The Perspective Of National Interest: Historical Evolution,conflicting Interests And Trends

With the disintegration of the world’s bipolar system and the change in the geopolitical situation,Poland’s national interests have been reshaped and transformed,and new and unprecedented dynamics have emerged in the field of migration.Unlike the closed policies of the communist era,Poland reopened its doors to the first truly imported migrants,initiating a long transition from a migrant-sending country to a migrant-transferring and receiving country.In the development of Poland’s migration policy since democratization,the conflicting interests and the logic of national policy orientations in relation to European integration migration policy are the focus of this paper.National interest is one of the key concepts in the study of international relations and has an important role in national strategic decision-making.In the evolution of Poland’s migration policy,national interests have likewise had a significant impact on the policy orientation of the authorities.This paper divides the historical evolution of Poland’s migration policy into three phases,using the dramatic changes in the Soviet Union,the eastern expansion of the EU and the European refugee crisis as key points in time,and analyses the dynamics of the country’s migration dynamics and response policies at each phase and their maintenance in relation to national interests.The transnational nature of the migration issue has led to the development of an integrated migration policy at the EU level,and the conflicting interests of Poland and the EU in this area have gradually emerged as a result.Based on a qualitative study of national interests and their relationship with the interests of the Community,this article proposes to use the utility measure theory to explain the logic of Polish policy makers’ behaviour in the context of conflicting interests with the EU and to analyse the characteristics and trends of the country’s migration policy.Poland’s conflicting interests with the EU’s migration policy were mainly reflected in the accession negotiations and the European refugee crisis in 2015.During the accession negotiations,conflicting interests arose between the common visa policy required by the EU and Poland’s visa-free policy with its former Soviet neighbours.By measuring the utility of the benefits,the implementation of a common visa policy has a higher value of utility,which explains the choice of Polish policy makers to uphold the common policy.In the context of the refugee crisis,a conflict of interest arises between the EU-level common apportionment policy and Poland’s "flexible solidarity" policy.Based on the quantification of the utility of the interests of the two policy orientations,the anti-refugee policy represents the greater utility of the interests,thus providing an explanation for Poland’s opposition to the EU-level refugee policy.An analysis of the historical evolution of Poland’s migration policy and the logic of its policy orientation shows that national interests fundamentally govern the formulation and implementation of its migration policy,and that both support and opposition to the EU common policy are choices made by the Polish government based on national interests.