Slovak immigrants in Poland after 2004 in the light of surveys conducted on the social networking site Facebook

Abstract

The Poland's accession to the EU and the opening of the EU labor market has resulted not only in the massive emigration of Polish citizens but also the arrival of citizens of the Member States of the Community to our country. Among them are Slovaks. They do not constitute a significant migratory flow and are scattered throughout the country. Every fourth of them chooses the Małopolskie Voivodeship, an area inhabited by the Slovakian national minority (occurring mainly in Orava, Spisz and Cracow). The article aims to analyze the Slovak immigration to Poland after May 1, 2004. Its implementation was based on the analysis of the statistical data presented in the first part of the work, made available by
the Office for Foreigners and concerning Slovak immigrants in Poland. The remaining portion of the study is devoted to the analysis of the content posted on the social networking site Facebook, in groups initiated by the Slovaks residing in Poland. For the purpose of this article, there were surveys carried out among them, the analysis of which is included in the third part of the study. The above allows for bringing closer the underlying motives of Slovak citizens’ migration to Poland, their family and professional situation, integration with the Polish society, and ways of maintaining a relationship with their homeland as well as plans for future.