Polish immigration to Finland – statistical survey

Abstrakti

Poland has always been recognized as a country of emigration. The Second World War, when over fi ve million people emigrated, border changes and unoffi cial emigration during the post-war communist period 1945-1989 are examples only from 20th century. Reasons for emigration of that time were mainly political. After the transformation in 1989 people encountered an opportunity to emigrate in order to look for better conditions of life and work. Because of a still-existing gap in economical development between Poland and Western Europe, lots of people decided to take advantage of this possibility. The crucial moment was 1st May 2004 when Poland accessed European Union and gained an admission to the free market of labour fl ows. However, only Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden opened their borders for citizens of New Member States without restrictions. After a few years only Austria and Germany require special permissions for job till now