2025.12.31.

Surányi R., Sik E. (2025). Similar but… The Trend of Xenophobia in Hungary and Poland. Central and Eastern European Migration Review 14(2): 115-136. doi: 10.54667/ceemr.2025.24

Abstract

In 2015, immigration became a major source of concern (and perhaps fear) both for Hungary and Poland and for the EU at large. It then declined continuously until 2022, before starting to rise again in 2023. Concerning the fear of migration in relation to one’s own country, both the Hungarian and Polish trends deviated from the general pattern: while, in Hungary, the fear of immigration remained slightly more salient until 2018, in Poland, the fear of immigration was constantly (and, until 2022, significantly) below the EU average. However, like in Hungary and other EU countries, it increased again in 2023. In this paper, we compare these 2 countries in terms of xenophobia using Ipsos data which have not yet been examined by others in this regard. We looked first at attitudes and then at behaviour (i.e. activism immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and then 1 year later). We also examined the differences between the socio-demographic variables in both groups.