Migration Trends and Responses in Select East Central European Countries Since 2015

Summary During the decade between 2015 and 2025, migration trends and policy responses shifted in selected East Central European (ECE) countries. The period includes several key migration-related events, including the 2015 European migration crisis, the 2021 EU-Belarus humanitarian border crisis, post-2020 forced migration from Belarus, and the 2022 forced displacement from Ukraine. Policy responses across the region were profoundly selective. Governments enforced restrictive entry policies, including border fortifications and pushbacks, against protection seekers from Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African countries who were deemed “undeserving.” Conversely, they liberalized entry and granted mainstream welfare access to “deserving” nationals of Ukraine and Belarus. These differences were driven by racialized hierarchies and geostrategic alignment against Russia which was the driving force behind at least three of the four mentioned key migration events. However, these welcoming policies were often ad hoc, temporary in scope, and lacked essential organizational support.